Freeze resistant watering nipple device

ABSTRACT

A freeze-resistant watering nipple assembly comprising a watering nipple valve, a heat pipe, a sleeve in tight thermal contact with the nipple, a water-tight connection to a liquid containing container or supply pipe, and an outer shield enclosing an insulating space and/or insulation material is described, which thermally couples a watering nipple to a container or supply pipe via a sufficiently good thermal conduction path so that the nipple can be maintained at a temperature that is near the temperature of the liquid in the container or supply pipe. Further, the use of one or more freeze-resistant watering nipple assemblies with a thermally insulated container is described so that the unit comprising the nipple assembly or assemblies and the insulated container provides drinking water to animals, and in particular, birds in sub-freezing and in hot weather.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This non-provisional application claims priority to the pending PatentCooperation Treaty (PCT) application PCT/US2015/015060 filed on Feb. 9,2015 which claims priority to the provisional application 61/965,917filed on Feb. 10, 2014 and all of which are owned by the same inventors.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The freeze-resistant watering nipple device generally relates towaterers for providing liquids and especially drinking water to animals,and especially birds including poultry, and more specifically to awaterer providing liquid water when the ambient temperature of theenvironment is below freezing, and water that is cooler than theenvironment during warmer weather.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Poultry and other animal waterers are used in ambient outdoortemperatures or in coops, sheds, shelters, or barns in which the ambienttemperature may be near or below the freezing point of water (i.e., insub-freezing conditions) or be above a desirable temperature in hotconditions. In cold weather, some watering dishes or troughs areprovided with external heaters (e.g., an electrical resistance heater)or immersion heaters. Such waterers are susceptible to fouling by animalwastes, and in sub-freezing temperatures, may consume substantial andcostly power to prevent the water from freezing.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

There are other watering and liquid dispensing devices that address theneed to provide liquid water or liquid nourishment to animals.Hereinafter, such devices are referred to as “watering devices”, and thedispensed liquid is referred to as “water”, although it is to beunderstood that they may dispense liquids other than water orwater-based solutions. Watering devices include pans, troughs, dishes,and cups. A freeze resistant bird watering device is described byHollyday's U.S. Pat. No. 5,002,017 that comprises a covered shallow traywhich fits within an enclosing dish with a closed air space between thetray and the dish to provide an insulating effect. The cover has anaperture to permit birds to access the water.

Watering and liquid dispensing devices also include nozzles, andso-called nipple valves. Many of these devices are animal activated.Some nipple valves comprise a hollow cylindrical body that contains anactuating pin, a valve seat, a first weight, which in some embodimentsis a spherical ball, and one or more weights or cylindrical pins abovethe first weight. Examples are Steudler, Jr.'s U.S. Pat. No. 4,524,724,Rader's U.S. Pat. No. 4,890,578, Clark's U.S. Pat. No. 5,074,250, andSchumacher's U.S. Pat. No. 6,073,584. Some of these devices are intendedto provide a predetermined flow rate of liquid when actuated, i.e., whenthe valve is “open” to allow flow, and they are described to exhibitlittle or no leakage and dripping when not actuated and are “closed” toflow. Such devices can be mounted on a pipe, a bucket, or othercontainer that supplies the water or liquid. In one arrangement, thenipple valve is oriented so that the actuating pin is approximatelydownward pointing so that poultry, game birds, small animals, farmanimals, and the like (hereinafter referred to as “animals”) may actuatethe valve and obtain water and thereby drink the water.

When animals are kept in temperate and cold climates, cold weather maycomprise freezing temperatures or near-freezing temperatures with wind,whereby the water in a waterer exposed to such cold temperatures mayfreeze. (Such cold conditions are referred to herein as “freezingconditions” even though the ambient temperature may be above thefreezing point of water, nominally 0° C., i.e., approximately 32.0° F.at normal pressure.) When freezing occurs, not only are the animalsdeprived of drinking water, but the animal keeper or farmer may beinconvenienced by the need to thaw the waterer. Consequently, there aresome watering devices that provide heat to the waterer as means to avoidor resist freezing of the water or to make easy the thawing of a frozenwaterer.

Hatch's U.S. Pat. No. 3,691,997 describes a temperature controlled waterdispensing device for animals in which warm water is circulated directlyinto and out of the nipples.

Another heating means is an electrical resistance heater that is inclose proximity to the water. An example is Noland's U.S. Pat. No.4,091,261. Another example is a “hotplate” on which is placed a pan ortrough containing the water. Another example is a watering cup with anintegral electrical resistance heater with electrical insulation.Another example is a bucket around which an electrical heating “tape” iswrapped. An example is Noland's U.S. Pat. No. 4,397,266. Such a bucketmay also be wrapped in thermal insulation and/or placed in anotherbucket. Yet another example is a water container in which a submersibleheater is immersed.

Such a heated container may supply heated water via a conduit or pipe toa nipple valve or other dispenser means. Gravity feed or a pumpproviding circulation may be used to bring the heated water to thedispenser. Steudler Jr.'s U.S. Pat. No. 5,289,797 describes such apumped system in which the conduit is thermally insulated so that thewater temperature is in a range that is not too hot or too cold.

Peterson's U.S. Pat. No. 4,185,589 describes an apparatus for heating anipple valve livestock waterer that has a heat sink coupling, preferablyof brass, that is disposed interiorly of the waterer housing and isconnected to a water supply line at one end and a nipple valve at theopposite end. An electrical heater contacts the coupling that brings theheat to the valve. The nipple valve has a stainless steel metal body andis mounted on the housing of the waterer. Peterson teaches that thevalve seat must be in close proximity to the housing and the valve isconnected to the brass coupling so that the valve seat is in closeproximity to the brass coupling that connects to a galvanized steelwater supply line.

Peterson's U.S. Pat. No. 4,248,177 describes an animal waterer with are-circulating water system that circulates warm water to a plurality ofnipples.

Dolan's U.S. Pat. No. 4,819,585 describes a freeze resistant adjustableflow rate animal nipple waterer in which thermally conductive materialsare selected for the nipple construction so that heat from a relativelywarm water source is conducted to the valve seat of the nipple valve inthe case where the nipple comprises a metal body and is mounted so thatthe valve seat is in close proximity to the water container. Suchwatering systems may serve a few animals, e.g., a handful of birds, ormay be scaled to serve large industrial farm operations.

Other animal waterers appear in the prior art without, an actuator suchas a pin or lever, shown in Atchely and Hui. Atchley shows an AvianWater Bottle Assembly in his U.S. Pat. No. 4,821,678 that has a bracketsuitable for mounting upon a cage that receives an inverted bottle. Theinverted bottle includes a dispensing spout closed by a red ball.

Then Hui has a Water Drinking Device for Pets in his U.S. Pat. No.5,549,074 that describes a vessel with a slanted bottom. The slantedbottom locates an outlet above the bottom end of the vessel whereimpurities settle.

Another approach to avoid or resist freezing of the water is to supplythe water via a pipe or conduit that is located underground and belowthe frost line, so the water is warmer than the freezing point when itis supplied to the waterer, Ahrens' U.S. Pat. No. 4,922,858. Such anapproach may be useful to a medium or large scale farm or poultryoperation, but it is generally not practical for the small operation or“backyard” farmer. In Ahrens' U.S. Pat. No. 4,559,905, a livestockwatering tank is described that comprises an insulated tank with a wateraccess opening at the top in which is situated an insulating buoyantspherical float that closes the opening except when depressed by adrinking animal. By closing the tank opening, the float reduces heatloss by evaporative cooling and by conduction and convection.

Bird and animal watering nipple valves are commercially available. Thesenipple valves are generally of stainless steel or stainless steel andplastic construction. Some have brass and/or elastomeric parts as well.Such nipple valves are used in commercial scale poultry operations wherethe valves are not subject to freezing temperatures because of the heatgenerated by a large number of birds and/or industrial scale buildingheating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment. Such nipplevalves are also used by small scale operations and in the backyardchicken coop as such nipple valves are highly evolved and engineered toprovide a desired water flow rate when actuated by a bird, are resistantto leaking, are easy to install, and are durable.

For many poultry operations, which include the small farm and thehobbyist or “backyard” poultry coop, the waterer may be exposed to theambient outdoor temperature, and an elaborate heated watering system maybe impractical or too expensive. Moreover, the availability ofelectricity may be limited or none, and the cost of electrically heatingthe waterer may be high in regions that have prolonged and frequentfreezing conditions. For example, in much of the northern half of theUnited States, winter temperatures are frequently colder than freezing.The cost of energy to heat the water may be a significant part of thebudget of a small poultry operation.

An approach that can be practical to the small farm and “backyard”farmer is to use a sufficiently large supply volume of warm water in acontainer as a heat reservoir so that the heat content of such a volumeis sufficiently large that the time for the volume of water to cool andfreeze is long compared with the duration of the cycle for replenishingor replacing the water as desired by the farmer. For example, with asufficient water volume, the farmer can fill the container with warmwater in the morning, and the water heat content is sufficient so thatat nightfall, or even after one day, the temperature of the water in thecontainer is above freezing, or at least the majority of the water inthe container has not frozen.

However, even in the case in which the water in the container, or asupply line (or supply pipe) is heated or has sufficient heat content sothat the water temperature is above freezing, a conventional birdwatering nipple valve that is attached to the container or supply pipebut exposed to sub-freezing ambient temperature is susceptible tofreezing. This is because many such bird watering nipple valves areconstructed mainly of stainless steel or stainless steel and plastic,which have relatively low thermal conductivity. Many bird wateringnipple valves are mounted so that the actuating pin of the valve pointsdownward and the valve seat is at the end of the nipple away from theattachment to the container or supply line, which attachment is made atthe top end of the nipple valve. Such valves have relatively low thermalconductance that is insufficient to convey sufficient heat from the heatreservoir, i.e., from the container or supply line, to the valve seat toprevent or significantly resist freezing of the water in the valve. Useof a heat pipe, i.e., a heat sink coupling, (e.g., as taught byPeterson's U.S. Pat. No. 4,185,589 or Dolan's U.S. Pat. No. 4,819,585)and attached to the top end of the valve is ineffectual to provide heatto the vicinity of the valve seat of the nipple valve when the valveseat is not proximate to where the coupling and valve are attachedbecause of the insufficient thermal conductance of the water-fillednipple valve.

The present invention overcomes the difficulties of the prior art. Thepresent invention includes An effective and inexpensive means forproviding a high thermal conductance connection between a reservoircontainer or supply pipe and the vicinity of the valve seat of acommercially available nipple valve wherein the valve seat is notproximate with the wall of the reservoir container or wall of the supplypipe is not described in the prior art.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

The present invention provides a freeze-resistant nipple devicecomprising an outer shield, a heat pipe, a sleeve in tight thermalcontact with a nipple valve, for example, a commercially availablenipple valve, and a feed-through connection for attachment to a heatreservoir in a thermally insulated container or a supply pipe so thatthe temperature gradients and the free and forced convective flowgeometries provide an acceptably small heat loss so that the nipplevalve is adequately warmed by conduction from the heat reservoir toresist the freezing of the water in the nipple valve. Low cost of thefreeze-resistant nipple valve device is preferred for its economical usein “backyard” and small-scale chicken farms. The present inventionallows the use of inexpensive nipple valves.

A freeze-resistant watering nipple device comprises a watering nipplevalve, a heat pipe, a sleeve in tight thermal contact with the nipplevalve, a water-tight connection, i.e., a feed-through connection, to acontainer or supply pipe, and a low thermal loss outer shield enclosingthe sleeve and most of the nipple valve. Further, the use of one or morefreeze-resistant watering nipple devices with an insulated containercomprises a waterer to provide drinking water or liquids to animals, andespecially birds including poultry, in sub-freezing weather and in hotweather.

The heat pipe comprises a heat conducting member between the water orliquid in a reservoir container or supply pipe and the sleeve in tightthermal contact with the nipple valve that is a heat conducting memberbetween the heat pipe and the body of the nipple valve and inparticular, in the vicinity of the valve seat. The heat pipe isconstructed of high heat conductivity material; examples of which arealuminum (plain, anodized, epoxy coated, or plastic coated), copper(plain or coated), silver (plain or coated), gold, or metals of theplatinum group, and alloys of any of the aforementioned. The heat pipemay be attached to the top of the nipple body directly or via anintermediate bushing or gasket, and then thermally coupled via a highthermal conductivity sleeve in tight thermal contact with the nipplevalve, the sleeve being held by a clamping means onto the nipple valve,or may be press-fitted onto the nipple valve, or screwed onto the nipplevalve, or joined to the nipple valve by a thin layer of injected moldedpolymer or adhesive, or other means of joining, so that the clampingforce, contact force, or adhesion force is sufficient to obtain goodthermal conduction. An example, but not as a limitation, is an aluminumor copper clamped sleeve that is in thermal contact with the plasticcovered nipple body or stainless steel nipple body. Optionally, a heatconducting ring may be situated around at least a portion of the nipplevalve part comprising a metal annulus with exposed lower surface andwithin the sleeve to transmit heat to the nipple valve seat. In anotherembodiment, the sleeve may be an integral part of the heat pipe. In yetanother embodiment, the nipple valve is attached to the sleeve in awater-tight fashion by any of the several sealing means known in theart.

The heat pipe is held in a feed-through connection that comprises awatertight seal between the heat pipe and the reservoir container orsupply pipe. Examples of the feed-through connection, but not aslimitation, are an elastomer compression seal (such as a plasticbushing, sleeve, o-ring, or grommet), a glued joint, a screw-threadedjoint, or a metal compression seal. The feed-through connection may alsoinclude low thermal conductivity parts. It may also comprise matingparts, such as a male part and a female part so that the wall of thereservoir container or supply pipe is held between the male and femaleparts.

Surrounding at least a portion of the heat pipe and the sleevesurrounded nipple valve is an outer shield that encloses an insulatingvolume comprising low thermal conductivity insulating material and/or anair gap space that has a reflective heat shield on at least one of itsdefining surfaces so that the surrounding enclosure insulates theenclosed portion of the heat pipe and the sleeve surrounded nipple valvefrom the ambient exterior air. The enclosed portion of the heat pipe,the sleeve surrounded nipple valve, the air space and reflective heatshield, and/or the thermally insulating material between the sleevesurrounded nipple valve and the surrounding enclosure have sufficientlylow heat loss, and the heat pipe, sleeve, contact interfaces, and paththrough the body of the nipple valve have sufficiently high thermalconductance, so that the nipple valve seat and animal-actuated end ofthe nipple housing or actuator pin, lever, or ball at the valve seat aremaintained within a few degrees C. of the temperature of the water orliquid in the reservoir container or supply pipe.

One or more freeze-resistant watering nipple devices attached to areservoir container that is sufficiently insulated from ambienttemperature by enclosure within a plastic outer container separated fromthe reservoir container by an air gap and a reflective heat shield,and/or insulating material comprises a waterer that provides drinkingwater or liquid to animals, especially birds including poultry, insub-freezing ambient temperature, so long as the temperature in thereservoir is sufficiently above the freezing temperature, i.e., thereservoir temperature is greater than or equal to a critical reservoirtemperature T_(crit), and the temperature differential between thereservoir and the nipple valve seat is sufficiently small so that thewater in the vicinity of the nipple valve seat does not freeze.

For a waterer of the present invention without supplemental heating, solong as the time-integrated heat energy lost from the reservoir, whichamounts to the sum of the heat lost through the surface of the reservoircontainer enclosed by the outer container, the heat lost by water thatleaves the reservoir container, and the heat lost via thefreeze-resistant watering nipple device is less than the initial thermalenergy content of the reservoir corresponding to the temperaturedifference between the initial reservoir temperature T_(init) andT_(crit), then liquid or drinking water is supplied. The time intervalfor an initial fill of warm water to cool to T_(crit) is the freezingtime t_(f). It is desirable that t_(f) be sufficiently long so that asingle load of warm reservoir water or liquid will provide drinkingwater to the animals, especially birds including poultry, for themajority or all of the daylight hours of a day during cold weathermonths. It is also desirable that the same waterer, when initiallyloaded with ice and water, provides cool water to animals or poultry forthe majority or all of the daylight hours of a day during hot weather.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an inexpensive,low-heat-loss means for conducting the heat from a thermal reservoir orsupply pipe to the valve seat of a commercially available plasticcovered stainless steel or stainless steel bodied nipple valve so thatsufficient heat is conveyed to the valve seat to resist freezing inambient temperature that is substantially below 0° C. Ambienttemperature is the air temperature at the exposed drinking end of thenipple valve housing and/or actuation pin of the animal or poultryactuated nipple-valve.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a means ofmounting and integrating a heat pipe warmed nipple valve compatible withcommon commercially available watering nipple valves with no, or modestand inexpensive, modification of the nipple valve housing.

Another object of the present invention is a freeze-resistant wateringnipple device that has simple installation, low cost, construction thatavoids significant corrosion or leaching of metallic ions into the watercontainer or supply pipe and into the drinking water, that is comprisedof materials that are compatible with potable water, and that resistscracking and breakage in the event of freezing of the reservoircontainer or supply pipe.

Another object of the present invention is a freeze-resistant wateringnipple device that effectively delivers liquid water to animals,especially birds including poultry, when the ambient temperature isbelow −10° C., preferably, down to 0° F. (−18° C.), and more preferably,down to −10° F. (−24° C.).

Another object of the present invention to provide drinking water orliquids to animals, especially birds including poultry, by means of alow thermal loss reservoir and one or more integrated freeze-resistantwatering nipple devices, which enables use of a practically-sizedreservoir at an animal, bird, or poultry tolerable initial temperatureto provide sufficient heat to avoid freezing for a time t_(f), which isat least t_(f)≥8 hours when the ambient temperature is about 0° F. andwhen the wind speed may be as great as about 8 miles per hour (mph)without the use of an electrical heater, for at least t_(f)≥24 hourswith the use of a relatively low power electrical or other heat source,and to asymptote to a relatively warm water temperature with the use ofa low or medium power heat source.

Another object to provide relatively cool (i.e., substantially less thanambient outdoor temperature, for example, <90° F. when ambient outdoortemperature is up to 115° F.) drinking water or liquids to animals andpoultry for at least 24 hours by means of a low thermal loss watererthat has one or more integrated freeze-resistant watering nipple devicesby use of an initial fill of ice and water in a reservoir container andwithout additional cooling means.

Another object is to provide such a freeze-resistant watering nippledevice that has a low cost of manufacturing so the purchasing public,backyard farmers, ranchers, farmers, feedlots, coop operators,landowners, and organizations can readily buy the inventedfreeze-resistant watering nipple device through supply sources.

These together with other objects of the invention, along with thevarious features of novelty that characterize the invention, are pointedout with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part ofthis disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, itsoperating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses,reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptivematter in which there are illustrated preferred embodiments of theinvention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In referring to the drawings,

FIG. 1 shows a sectional view on a vertical plane of an embodiment of afreeze-resistant nipple valve device with a heat pipe, sleeve, mountingand feed-through connection to a container or supply pipe;

FIG. 2 shows a sectional view on a vertical plane of an embodiment of afreeze-resistant nipple valve device with a heat pipe, sleeve, mountingand feed-through connection to a container or supply pipe;

FIG. 3 shows a sectional view on a vertical plane of an embodiment of afreeze-resistant nipple valve device with a heat pipe, sleeve, mountingand feed-through connection to a container or supply pipe;

FIG. 4 shows a sectional view on a vertical plane of an embodiment of afreeze-resistant nipple valve device with a heat pipe, sleeve, mountingand feed-through connection to a container or supply pipe;

FIG. 5 shows a sectional view on a vertical plane of an embodiment of afreeze-resistant nipple valve device with a heat pipe, sleeve, mountingand feed-through connection to a container or supply pipe;

FIG. 6 provides a sectional view on a vertical plane of an embodiment ofa freeze-resistant nipple valve device with a heat pipe, sleeve,mounting and feed-through connection to a container or supply pipe;

FIG. 7 provides a sectional view on a vertical plane of an embodiment ofa freeze-resistant nipple valve device with a heat pipe, sleeve,mounting and feed-through connection to a container or supply pipe;

FIG. 8 provides a sectional view on a vertical plane of an embodiment ofa freeze-resistant nipple valve device with a heat pipe, sleeve,mounting and feed-through connection to a container or supply pipe;

FIG. 9 provides a sectional view on a vertical plane of an embodiment ofa freeze-resistant nipple valve device with a heat pipe, sleeve,mounting and feed-through connection to a container or supply pipewherein the feed-through connection has a rubber or elastomer grommet;

FIG. 10a provides a sectional view on a vertical plane of an embodimentof a freeze-resistant nipple valve device with a heat pipe, sleeve,mounting and feed-through connection to a container or supply pipewherein the feed-through connection has a rubber or elastomer grommet,and FIG. 10b provides an end view of the bottom of the freeze-resistantnipple assembly 5;

FIG. 11a describes as a sectional view on a vertical plane of theembodiment shown in FIG. 10 including two detail views of a horizontalcross-section, the detail view on the lower left, FIG. 11b is shown inthe same scale as the vertical plane cross-section view in the upperleft, and the view to the right, FIG. 11c is the horizontal planecross-section view magnified two fold;

FIG. 12 describes a side view of an embodiment of a low heat-loss ratewaterer with an integrated, shielded, freeze-resistant nipple valvedevice with a heat pipe, a sleeve, a mounting and feed-throughconnection, and an outer shield;

FIG. 13 describes a side view of a reveal of an embodiment of a lowheat-loss rate waterer with an integrated, shielded, freeze-resistantnipple valve device with a heat pipe, a sleeve, a mounting andfeed-through connection, and an outer shield, wherein the principalinterior parts are shown as dashed lines;

FIG. 14 describes a top view of an embodiment of a low heat-loss ratewaterer with an integrated, shielded, freeze-resistant nipple valvedevice with a heat pipe, a sleeve, a mounting and feed-throughconnection, and an outer shield;

FIG. 15 describes a bottom view of an embodiment of a low heat-loss ratewaterer with an integrated, shielded, freeze-resistant nipple valvedevice 5 with a heat pipe, a sleeve, a mounting and feed-throughconnection, and an outer shield 84;

FIG. 16 illustrates a sectional view of an embodiment of a low heat-lossrate waterer with an integrated insulated, shielded, freeze-resistantnipple valve device with a heat pipe, a sleeve, a mounting andfeed-through connection, and an outer shield;

FIG. 17 illustrates a chart of the calculated water temperature T (i.e.,the reservoir temperature inside of a 2 gallon outer bucket embodimentof the waterer shown in FIGS. 12-15) as a function of time, t where theupper three curves, T vs. t are shown with a heater inside the innerbucket at various power levels and where the lower two curves, T vs tare shown without a heater inside the inner bucket at calculated andexperimental power levels; and,

FIG. 18 provides a sectional view on a vertical plane of an alternateembodiment of a freeze-resistant nipple valve device with an actuatorclosed by a ball.

The same reference numerals refer to the same parts throughout thevarious figures.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

A freeze-resistant nipple valve device 5 of the present invention asshown as various embodiments in FIGS. 1-16, comprises a heat pipe 10, asleeve 20 in tight thermal contact with a nipple valve 30, a water-tightconnection to a container or supply pipe, which may comprise afeed-through of two joined parts being a male part 75 and a female part76 or of a rubber or elastomer grommet 83, and an outer shield 84enclosing an insulating air gap space 8 with a reflective heat shield110 on one of the surfaces defining the air gap space, and/or on orincorporated into insulation material 140 between the said nipple valve30 and the outer shield 84. The heat conductive sleeve surrounds and isin tight thermal contact with at least a portion of the body of thenipple valve. The outer shield provides protection from exterior ambientcold or hot air.

In one preferred embodiment, the sleeve 20 is a clamped sleeve that hasan axial slot 22 to allow radial compression of the sleeve onto the body36 of the nipple valve 30. In another preferred embodiment, a heatconducting ring 130 having an axial slot 132 may be situated around thenipple valve part comprising a metal annulus with exposed lower surface32 and within the clamped sleeve 20 to transmit heat to the nipple valveseat. A thermal joint enhancement foil 18 may be used to fill a gapbetween the heat pipe 10 and the clamped sleeve 20. A thermal jointenhancement foil may also be used to fill a gap between conductive metalring 130 and clamped heat shield 20. In one preferred embodiment, thejoint enhancement foil is a good conducting metal. In one more-preferredembodiment, the good conducting material is aluminum, aluminum alloy, orgold. In another more preferred embodiment, the outer diameter of theheat pipe 10 and the outer diameter of the nipple valve body 36 arematched so that the clamped sleeve 20 can be easily made to conform toboth. In one preferred embodiment, the nipple valve body 36 outerdiameter, if larger than the outer diameter of the heat pipe 10, ismachined as a minor modification to obtain a match. The machining may beby turning, grinding, sanding, filing, or any common method orcombination thereof as known in the art. The nipple valve 30 is mountedinto the heat pipe 10 and sealed by a polymer or elastomer annulargasket 46, or the nipple valve is screwed into a threaded hole at thelower end of the heat pipe and optionally sealed with threaded jointsealing tape such as Teflon tape, so that the entrance orifice of thenipple is in contact with the liquid, e.g., water, in the interior ofthe heat pipe 10, and the internal parts of the nipple, for example, anupper stage headed pin 42 or a valve seat weight comprising a sphere 40or cylindrical disk, are free to move. In the figures, the wall 350 of areservoir container 50 or a supply pipe wall is represented as theinterior surface 100 and an exterior surface 200 that may be enclosed inan outer enclosure 300 that may be a bucket.

The heat pipe 10, the interface 18 between the heat pipe 10 and theclamped sleeve 20, which interface 18 may comprise an optional shimsleeve or wrapping of malleable heat conducting material, the clampedsleeve 20, and the wall of the nipple valve housing 36 in the vicinityof the nipple valve seat comprise a series connected thermal pathbetween the reservoir and the nipple valve 30. Accordingly, the thermalresistance of this path is the sum of the resistance of the heat pipe

_(p), the resistance of the interface

_(psc) comprising contact resistance(s) and resistance of the optionalshim sleeve or wrapping, the resistance of the clamped sleeve

_(sl), the resistance of the contact interface

_(c1) between the clamped sleeve and the body 36 of the nipple valvehousing, the resistance of the nipple valve housing

_(w)≈[[k]_(w)πD_(w)l]⁻¹δ, and the resistance of the contact interface

_(c2) between the housing of the nipple valve housing 36 and the lowermetal part with exposed surface 32 and orifice through which an actuator34 protrudes, here shown as a pin. The Applicants foresee alternateforms of the actuator including a pin, lever, ball, knob, and the like.The body 36 of the nipple valve has thermal conductivity k_(w), meandiameter D_(w), and thickness δ. l is the height of the principal partof the metal annulus with exposed surface 32, which is in contact withor is part of the wall of the nipple valve body that is in contact withthe clamped sleeve. Thus,

_(total)=

_(p)+

_(psc)+

_(sl)+

_(c1)+

_(w)+

_(c2).

When the heat pipe 10 or clamped sleeve 20 comprises an annular circularcylinder, the thermal resistance can be calculated by substitution ofthe appropriate values of the annular cylinder of length L, outerdiameter D₂, and inner diameter D₁, and made of material with thermalconductivity k, into Eqn. (1) given as

=4L[kπ(D ₂ ² −D ₁ ²)]⁻¹.  (1)

The temperature difference between the reservoir temperature T_(r) andthe nipple valve seat temperature T_(ns) is ΔT_(ms)=T_(r)−T_(ns). As a‘lumped-circuit’ estimate, for a given radial heat loss along the heatpipe Q_(hp), the radial heat loss along the clamped sleeve Q_(s), and aheat loss at the exposed lower surface 32 of the nipple valve Q_(n), thetemperature difference ΔT_(ms) is the sum of the temperature differencesbetween the reservoir and lower end of the heat pipe ΔT_(rp), thetemperature difference between the lower end of the heat pipe and thelower end of the clamped sleeve ΔT_(ps), and the temperature differencebetween the lower end of the clamped sleeve and the exposed lowersurface of the nipple valve ΔT_(ns). Thus, ΔT_(ms) is given byΔT _(ms) ≤ΔT _(rp) +ΔT _(ps) +ΔT _(sn) =Q _(hp)

_(p) +Q _(s)

_(s) +Q _(n)

_(sn),  (2)where

_(p) is the thermal resistance of the heat pipe,

_(r)=

_(psc)+

_(sl) is the thermal resistance of the clamped sleeve, and

_(sn)=

_(c1)+

_(w)+

_(c2) is the thermal resistance of the thermal path via the clampedsleeve 20 to the exposed lower surface 32 of the nipple valve 30.

When the series resistance and the losses are sufficiently small, then,by Eqn. 2, ΔT_(rns) will be sufficiently small so that the nipple valveseat temperature will be within a few degrees of the reservoirtemperature.

The thermal losses from the exposed lower surface 32 of the nipple valve30 and actuator pin 34 principally are the radiated loss and theconvection loss. For machined stainless steel surfaces, the emissivityis approximately ε˜0.5. The radiation loss is approximatelyP _(rn)˜εσ_(B)(T _(ns) ⁴ −T ₀ ⁴)A _(n),  (3)where σ_(B) is the Stefan-Boltzmann constant. For a typical nipplevalve, A_(n)˜1.8×10⁻⁴ m². Accordingly, P_(m)˜0.007 W, when T_(ns)˜0° C.,and T₀˜−18° C.

The convection loss at the exposed nipple valve exposed lower surface 32can be estimated in the free convection case where there is no windblowing across the exposed nipple surfaces, and also in the forcedconvection case where there is a wind of speed v_(w). The convectiveheat transfer coefficient is estimated as

$\begin{matrix}{{h = {{{Nu}\; L_{c}^{- 1}k_{a}} \lesssim {0.66\mspace{11mu}{Re}^{\frac{1}{2}}\Pr\limits^{\frac{1}{3}}k_{a}L_{c}^{- 1}}}},( {{laminar}\mspace{14mu}{flow}} )} & ( {4a} ) \\{{h = {{{Nu}\; L_{c}^{- 1}k_{a}} \lesssim {0.037\mspace{11mu}{Re}^{\frac{4}{5}}\Pr\limits^{\frac{1}{3}}k_{a}L_{c}^{- 1}}}},( {{turbulent}\mspace{14mu}{flow}} )} & ( {4b} )\end{matrix}$where k_(a) is the thermal conductivity of air k_(a)˜0.024 and thePrandtl number is Pr˜0.715 at 0° C., L_(c) is a characteristic length(L_(c)≈0.25 D_(shield) for laminar flow, D_(shield) being the outerdiameter of the outer shield 84) and Re=ν_(w)L_(c)v⁻¹, and ν is thekinematic viscosity ˜1.33×10⁻⁵ m²/s at 0° C. When v_(w)˜5 mph (˜2.24m/s), and L_(c)˜0.01 m, Re˜1684, and the flow is laminar. In this caseand by Eqn. (4a), h=17.6 W/m²K, and Q_(n)˜hA_(n)(T_(ns)−T₀)+P_(m)˜0.1 W.If a discontinuity induces a sudden transition to turbulence, then h isgiven by Eqn. (4b), h=9, and Q_(n)˜0.05 W.

In contrast is the heat loss for free convection from a downward facingdisk for whichh=NuL _(c) ⁻¹ k _(a)

0.27(GrPr)^(1/4) L _(c) ⁻¹ k _(a),  (5)where Gr is the Grashoff number. For the conditions in the abovedescribed example, h˜12.1 W/m² k for free convection versus ˜17.6 forforced convection. Thus, the heat loss by forced convection because ofwind generally is substantially greater than by free convection.

The radial conduction and/or convection loss via the insulation,mounting sleeve 80 or outer shield 84 and/or annular space 8 surroundingthe heat pipe 10 and clamped sleeve 20 can be estimated asQ _(hp) =Q _(cond-hp),  (6)Q _(s) =Q _(ins-sleeve) +P _(r-sleeve),  (7)where Q_(cond-hp) is the conduction heat loss of the heat pipe 10 in thevicinity of the feed-through (male part 75 and female part 76 or grommet83 as later shown in FIG. 9) where the heat pipe 10 passes from theinterior 100 of the reservoir container or supply pipe to the exterior200 of said container or pipe, Q_(ins-sleeve) is the radial conductionand/or the convection heat loss from the clamped sleeve 20, andP_(r-sleeve) is the radial radiation heat loss from the clamped sleeve20 in the case where there is an air gap 8 surrounding the clampedsleeve 20.

The conduction heat loss of the heat pipe 10 in the vicinity of thefeed-through (parts 75 and 76 or grommet 83) is small because thetemperature difference ΔT_(ft) between the heat pipe 10 and the walls ofthe feed through is small. As an estimate,Q_(cond-hp)˜k_(p)A_(feed-through)ΔT_(ft)/δ_(ft), and k_(p)˜0.19 is atypical value of thermal conductivity for plastic feed-through parts 75and 76, gasket 70, or grommet 83, or wall material (for examplepolyvinyl chloride, PVC), A_(feed-through)˜1×10⁻³ m² is a typicalsurface area, and δ_(ft)˜0.006 m is a typical radial gasket 70 and wallthickness of parts 75 and 76 or grommet 83, it is seen thatQ_(cond-hp)˜0.03ΔT_(ft). When ΔT_(ft)≤5° C., Q_(cond-hp)˜0.15 W.

The radial conduction heat loss from a clamped sleeve 20 surrounded byoptional insulation 140 and/or 128 is estimated as

$\begin{matrix}{{Q_{{ins} - {sleeve}} \lesssim {2\;\pi\; k_{ins}L_{sleeve}\Delta\;{T_{s}\lbrack {\ln( \frac{d_{2}}{d_{1}} )} \rbrack}^{- 1}}},} & (8)\end{matrix}$where the thermal conductivity of the insulation 140 surrounding theclamped sleeve k_(ins) may have a typical value ˜0.06 W/mK (for example,polyethylene small cell foam), L_(sleeve) is the length of the clampedsleeve (a typical value being about 0.03 m), ΔT_(s)˜18° C. for T_(ns)˜0°C. and T₀˜−18° C., and d₂ and d₁ are the outer diameter and innerdiameter of the insulation, respectively. When d₁˜0.015 m and d₂˜0.033,Q_(ins-sleeve)˜0.26 W. This is an overestimate when the reservoircontainer is surrounded by an outer container 300 (as shown in FIG. 12),as only part of the nipple assembly outer shield 84 may be exposed toambient temperature where the nipple device 5 protrudes outside of theouter container.

Radiation heat loss across the air gap 8 is effectively reduced by useof a reflective heat shield 110 such as may be formed by a cylinder ofaluminized polyester (e.g., aluminized Mylar®) film. In this case, theemissivity is ε˜0.04, the clamped sleeve area is A_(sleeve)˜1.4×10⁻³ m²,and the outer surface of the air gap is at a temperature >T₀. In thiscase, Eqn. (3) may be used with the substitution of A_(sleeve) for A_(n)to estimate the radiation heat loss from the clamped sleeve. For thetypical values given, P_(r-sleeve)˜0.004 W. Without the reflective heatshield, this loss would be 25 times greater, i.e., 0.1 W.

The sleeve 20 may be surrounded by both an insulating air gap 8 and anannulus of insulating material 140 in addition to the outer shield 84 asshown in FIGS. 2, and 7-11. In this case, the temperature of theinterface at the air gap 8 and insulating material 140 depends on therelative radial thickness of the air gap 8 and insulation 140, and thevalues of convection heat transfer coefficient in the air gap and thethermal conductivity of the insulation material.

As the annulus of insulation material 140 and the annular air gap 8 areseries resistances, the heat flux through the insulation material 140may be equated with the heat flux across the air gap 8, which is the sumof convective flux and radiative flux. With a reflecting heat shield 110on one of the surfaces defining the air gap 8, and, for the purposes ofestimation, assuming that the reflective heat shield 110 is on thesurface interface between the air-gap 8 and the insulating material 140,or the heat shield is incorporated into insulation material 140, andthat the outer surface of the sleeve 20 is at temperatureT_(sl)=T_(r)−ΔT_(rs), and the ambient exterior temperature is T₀, then,the temperature T_(i) on the surface interface between the air-gap 8 andthe insulating material 140 is estimated as

$\begin{matrix}{{T_{i} = \lbrack \frac{{C_{0}T_{0}} + {( {p_{r} + {h_{i}A_{sl}}} )T_{sl}}}{C_{0} + p_{r} + {h_{i}A_{sl}}} \rbrack},} & (9) \\{where} & \; \\{{C_{0} = {2\;\pi\; k_{ins}{L_{sleeve}\lbrack {\ln( \frac{d_{0}}{d_{1}} )} \rbrack}^{- 1}}},} & (10) \\{{p_{r}\text{∼}4\; ɛ\;{\sigma_{B}( T_{si}^{2} )}A_{sl}},} & (11) \\{{h_{i} = {{{Nu}\; L_{c}^{- 1}k_{a}} \lesssim {0.53\mspace{14mu}({GrPr})^{\frac{1}{4}}L_{c}^{- 1}k_{a}}}},} & (12)\end{matrix}$and, in the case where the insulating material 140 surrounds the air gap8, d₀ is the outer diameter of the insulation annulus, d₁ is thediameter of the interface surface (and the diameter of the annularreflective heat shield 110), and the Grashoff number Gr in Eqn. (12) isestimated for a temperature difference T_(sl)−T₀. By Eqns. (9-12), theinterface temperature can be calculated, and the radial heat fluxestimated as

$\begin{matrix}{Q_{radial} \approx {2\;\pi\; k_{ins}{{{L_{sleeve}( {T_{sl} - T_{0}} )}\lbrack {\ln( \frac{d_{0}}{d_{1}} )} \rbrack}^{- 1}.}}} & (13)\end{matrix}$

One embodiment of an insulated, shielded, nipple valve device 5 with aheat pipe 10, mounting and feed-through connection to a container orsupply pipe, a heat conductive clamped sleeve 20 surrounding the body ofa nipple valve 30, an air-gap 8 and reflective heat shield 110surrounding the nipple valve 30 and sleeve 20, an outer shield 84 thatprovides protection from exterior ambient cold or hot air is shown inFIG. 1. In one preferred embodiment, the heat pipe 10 is made of goodconducting metal that has low susceptibility to corrosion in water orwhatever fluids will be put into the reservoir or supply line. Examplesof good conducting metal include aluminum and alloys thereof, copper andalloys thereof, brass alloys, noble metals, platinum group metals, andmetals and alloys having a thermal conductivity greater than about 90W/m-K at 0° C. Copper and several copper alloys have thermalconductivity greater than 250 W/m-K at 0° C. Some metals may undergochemical reactions and release undesirable compounds into the reservoirunless coated or treated to reduce or prevent corrosion. Aluminum hasgood corrosion resistance in aqueous solutions and water when the pH isbetween 6 and 8. Outside of this range or to further reduce corrosion,it may be desirable to coat or treat the aluminum, for example withplastic coatings, plating with corrosion resistant metals, oranodization to resist corrosion, and/or other treatments that are knownin the art. Similarly, other good conducting metals can be used providedthe surfaces are treated to resist corrosion. Other noble metals, e.g.,gold and silver, and platinum group metals also can be used for the heatpipe or for plating, but they are generally expensive.

When it is desired to use a ‘push-in’ type commercially available nipplevalve 30 that typically has a gasket 46 to obtain a watertight seal, theinner diameter of the heat pipe may be selected and enlarged or reducedat the lower end of the heat pipe to accommodate gasket 46. When it isdesired to use a threaded type commercially available nipple valve 30the inner diameter of the heat pipe may be selected and enlarged orreduced at the lower end of the heat pipe to accommodate threads for asealed threaded joint. In one preferred embodiment, the inner diameterof the heat pipe is in the range of about ¼ to about ⅝ inches, and thelength L is in the range of 0.5 to about 5 inches. In one more-preferredembodiment, the inner diameter is in the range of 5/16 to about 7/16inches, and the length is in the range of about 1 to about 4 inches. Theannular thickness of the heat pipe is selected so that the thermalresistance

_(p) as given by Eqn. (1) is sufficiently small that ΔT_(rp) is a smallfraction of the temperature differential between the reservoir and theexposed surface 32 of the nipple. The length may be selected so that thetop of the heat pipe protrudes sufficiently into the reservoir abovesurface 100 so that a heater, e.g., an electric heater, an example ofwhich is an electric aquarium heater, can be placed between the lowersurface of the reservoir and the top of the heat pipe. Such placementmay ensure that the heat pipe inlet will be proximate to the warmestwater in the reservoir. Similarly, when the present invention is mountedin a supply pipe, the length of the heat pipe may be selected so thatthe inlet of the heat pipe is proximate to the warmest water in thepipe, and further, the length may be selected to not unacceptably impedethe flow of water in the pipe.

The sleeve 20 is made of good conducting metal such as the examplesgiven for the heat pipe 10. In one preferred embodiment, the sleeve ismade of aluminum, brass, copper, or alloys thereof. In onemore-preferred embodiment, it is made of copper or alloys thereof. Thesleeve must make sufficiently close contact with the body of the nipplevalve 36, and/or with a good conducting metal ring 130 (shown in FIGS.4-11) that makes sufficiently close contact with the metal annularcylinder comprising the lower member 32 of the nipple valve seat wherethe actuator pin 34 makes contact.

In one preferred embodiment, the sleeve 20 is a clamped sleevecomprising an annular cylinder with an axial slot 22 so that it can bemore easily compressed radially when clamped to obtain a sufficientcontact pressure. With sufficient clamping pressure P_(c), it is foundthat the thermal contact resistance

_(c) can be made sufficiently small, so that an acceptable temperaturedifference results

_(c). The clamped sleeve 20 should be sufficiently malleable so that itcan conform to the body of the nipple valve 36 with minimal clampingforce. Such malleability can be obtained by selection of material and/oralloy and by softening the material, e.g., by heat treatment. In onemore-preferred embodiment, the clamped sleeve 20 is of copper and has anannular thickness of about 1 to 3 mm (0.04 to 0.12 inches) and a lengthL_(sleeve) that is comparable to the length of the principal body of thenipple valve 36 plus an additional length so that the upper portion canbe clamped onto the lower portion of the heat pipe 10. For example, whenthe nipple valve 20 is an Impex 420011 nipple valve, for which the lowerprincipal portion of the nipple valve is about ¾ inch, in one preferredembodiment, the length of the clamped sleeve L_(sleeve) is about 2.5 to3.5 cm, i.e., about 1.0 to 1.4 inches inche, so that the clamped sleeveoverlaps the heat pipe by about 5-10 mm or about 0.2 to about 0.4 inch

There are a variety of elastic/plastic models of thermal contact betweena plastic and a metal; examples are Greenwood and Williamson (1966),Cooper, Mikic, and Yovanovich (CMY model, 1969), Persson (2006), Jacksonand Streator (2006), Bahrami, Yovanovich, and Marotta (2006), Carbone(2009), Jackson and Green (201), and Tian, Zhao, Zhu, and Qin (2012).These models predict a thermal conductance at the plastic-metal jointthat depends on the joint contact surface area and the distribution ofsize, geometry, and density of asperities and features (collectively,the “surface parameters”) that behave elastically and/or plasticallyunder clamping load pressure between the plastic and metal. At lowloading pressure, the joint is in the microscopic resistance regime, andthe low conductance of the joint in comparison with the bulk conductanceof the plastic material results in the joint contact resistance

_(c) being much larger than the bulk polymer layer resistance

_(bulk). However, at high loading pressure, the joint is in the bulkpolymer resistance regime, and

_(c) becomes comparable to or smaller than

_(bulk).

Use of the cited models to predict

_(c) is difficult without knowledge of the actual apparent contact area,the surface roughness and surface finish, and the surface parameters.Many of the models are based on highly polished surfaces or on‘optically flat’ mating surfaces. While the ‘computational’ simulationmodels can account in principle for imprecise shapes and deformation ofthe mating objects that comprise the joint, in practice, such knowledgeis not readily available. Some models allow a ‘corrective factor’ thatis the ratio of actual to apparent geometrical surface area, however,even knowledge of this factor may be difficult to ascertain. Further,measurement or detailed knowledge of the surface parameters that mayvary from piece to piece in a production of inexpensive parts isimpractical. Thus, it was not a priori obvious that

_(c) can be made small enough at practical clamping force for thepurposes of the instant invention.

The pressure exerted by the clamped sleeve 20 on the heat pipe, the bodyof the nipple valve, or the optional conducting metal ring 130 isapproximately given by

$\begin{matrix}{{P_{c} = \frac{2F}{D_{sl}L_{sleeve}}},} & (14)\end{matrix}$where D_(sl) is the inner diameter of the clamped sleeve 20, and F isthe tensile force exerted by the clamping means. This is a macroscopicaverage pressure.

As reported by Fuller and Marotta, in the microscopic resistance regime,

$\begin{matrix}{{{\log( \frac{h_{c}\sigma}{k_{s}m_{ab}} )} \propto {\log( \frac{2.3\; P_{c}}{E_{p}m_{ab}} )}},} & (15)\end{matrix}$where h_(c) is the contact heat transfer coefficient, σ is the meansurface roughness, k_(s) is the mean bulk conductivity of the metal andplastic, m_(ab) is the mean surface slope of asperities, and E_(p) isthe elastic modulus of the plastic. Implicit in this model is theassumption that the pressure is applied over the mating pieces and thatthe surfaces are in proximate or sufficiently close contact. Generally,this assumption is only approximate for a metal clamped sleeve on aplastic nipple body unless fabrication processes are used to obtain goodmacroscopic feature and part conformance, relatively smooth surfacefinish and surface roughness. Nonetheless, an illustrative estimate ofcombined joint contact conductance and bulk conductance can be obtainedwith the parameter values of k_(s)≈2k_(p), i.e., twice the conductivityof the plastic, m_(ab)≈0.21, typical surface roughness σ≈5 μm, andE_(p)≈3.6×10⁹ Pa. The data of Marotta and Fletcher and Fuller andMarotta show that when and for

${\frac{2.3\; P_{c}}{E_{p}m_{ab}} \approx 0.001},{then},{\frac{h_{c}\sigma}{k_{s}m_{ab}} \approx {2 \times 10^{2}}},$greater values of P_(c), the joint conductance increases relativelyslowly as a function of P_(c), and the joint conductance is in the bulkpolymer resistance region and

_(c)

_(bulk). For the parameter values given above, this critical valueP_(crit) occurs at about P_(crit)≈50-100 psi applied pressure.

Comparison with the data of Fuller and Marotta can be made although theactual surface conditions and actual values or σ, m_(ab), P_(c), andjoint surface area are not readily determined or known for thecomponents of the freeze-resistant nipple valve device. For an appliedP_(c)≈150 psi on acetal homopolymer (e.g., Delrin® by DuPont) plastic,with the parameter values of k_(s)≈2k_(p)≈0.76 W/m-K, i.e., twice theconductivity of the plastic, m_(ab)≈0.57, typical surface roughnessσ≈2.2 μm, and E_(p)≈3.6×10⁹ Pa. their results correspond to

$\frac{1}{h_{c}} \approx {0.0056\mspace{14mu} m^{2}\text{-}K\text{/}{W.}}$The contact conductance h_(μ) and h_(bulk) are related to h_(c) by thefollowing relation,

$\begin{matrix}{{\frac{1}{h_{c}} = {{\frac{1}{h_{\mu}} + \frac{1}{h_{bulk}}} = {\frac{1}{h_{\mu}} + \frac{\delta}{k_{p}( {1 - \frac{P_{c}}{E_{p}}} )}}}},} & (16)\end{matrix}$where δ is the thickness of the plastic. From the experimentalparameters and data of Fuller and Marotta, 1/h_(bulk)≈0.0035, and1/h_(μ)≈0.0021, i.e., h_(bulk)≈287 W/m²-K and h_(μ)≈482 W/m²-K, so, theinterface contact resistance is about 1.7 times the bulk polymerresistance.

In an experimental test, a one gallon reservoir container was filledwith warm water, T_(init)≈112° F. (44° C.), and the temperature of thereservoir T_(r) and the temperature T_(n) at the exposed surface at theend of the nipple 32 were measured as a function of time. Temperatureswere measured with type K thermocouples comprising welded 0.25 mmdiameter wire chromel-alumel junctions and where the measuringthermocouple was in series with a reference junction thermocouple thatwas immersed in a glass container of ice water at T_(ref)≈40° F. Thethermocouple junction that measured T_(n) was spot welded onto theexposed surface of the nipple 32. Because of the small distance betweenthe exposed face 32 and the nipple valve seat, it is assumed thatT_(n)≈T_(ns) within about a degree C. With an ambient temperatureT_(a)≈21° C., the initial temperature differential between the reservoirand the ambient air was 23° C., which is comparable to the differencebetween a reservoir temperature just above the freezing point of waterand an ambient temperature of approximately 0° F.

For a nipple mounted by a rubber bushing 46 on a heat pipe held in afeed-through comprising a rubber grommet 83, but with no outer shield orclamped sleeve, the temperature T_(n)≈T_(a)+δT≈T_(r)−23(° C.)+δT withδT≤5° C. after about 6 minutes. When the unshielded nipple is exposed toan approximately 9 mph wind, T_(n)≈T_(a)+δT, and δT is ≤2.5° C. atquasi-equilibrium within less than 6 minutes. In a controlledexperimental comparison, a freeze-resistant nipple valve device 5 with aclamped-sleeve, outer shield, and reflective heat shield is found tohave a quasi-equilibrium T_(n)≈T_(r)−δT, where δT≤7.5° C. after about 10minutes with a wind of approximately 9 mph. In another controlledexperimental comparison, a freeze-resistant nipple valve device 5 with aclamped-sleeve, a conducting metal ring 130, outer shield, andreflective heat shield is found to have a quasi-equilibriumT_(n)≈T_(r)−δT, where δT≤5° C. after about 10-15 minutes.

For the insulated, shielded, nipple valve device 5 used in the aboveexperimental example, when ΔT_(ns)≤5±3° C., and Q_(n)≈0.1 W (laminarflow case), then

_(In)≈50 K/W. As the overlap area is A_(c)≈4 cm² for the overlap of theclamped sleeve 20 in the vicinity of the metal annulus comprising thelower portion of the nipple valve seat and the exposed lower surface 32of the nipple valve, the corresponding value based on the Fuller andMarotta results is

_(EN)≈14 K/W. By comparison, the bulk thermal resistance of a Delrin®plastic body of a nipple valve at the overlap area is

_(bulk)≈9.9 K/W. Thus, the combination of effective contact area andsurface parameters appears to result in our experimentally realized

_(c1)

_(c2)≈40 K/W, which is about a factor of 3 greater than would bepredicted from the data of Fuller and Marotta. Nonetheless,

_(sn) is sufficiently small for the objective of the present invention.

It is found that any of several conventional means for clampingcylindrical objects can be used to apply adequate force F. Such meansinclude plastic cable ties, metal wire wrapped circumferentially aroundthe clamped sleeve with the ends of the wire twisted to generate theclamping force, and common ‘hose clamps’, either of plastic or metal. Inone preferred embodiment, the clamping means should be small in size andof small mass, and it should provide stable applied force in spite oftemperature changes that cause expansion and contraction; and further,it should be stable for long time duration such as a year or more. Inone more-preferred embodiment, the clamping means comprises one or moremetal wires 90 wrapped around the clamped sleeve 20 and with the wireends twisted. In one still more-preferred embodiment, at least two wiresare used, one of which provides clamping force in the vicinity of theoverlap of the clamped sleeve 20 and the heat pipe 10, and the wire isof stainless steel or other corrosion resistant metal. In such anembodiment, it is found that a 1 mm diameter stainless steel wire of 300series (Ausinitic) alloy with ends twisted can apply about 12 pounds oftensile force or more. Thus, for a clamped sleeve inner diameter ofD_(sl)=0.25 inches and L_(sleeve)=1.0 inches, and an applied force of 12pounds with a single clamp wire 90, a clamping pressure of P_(c)=48 psi(3.3×10⁵ Pa) is generated. With three clamp wires, the clamping pressureis about 150 psi. In a preferred embodiment, the clamp wire has diameterin the range of 0.5 mm to about 2 mm.

The mounting and feed-through connection to a reservoir container 50 maycomprise a tubulation with a flange that is attached to the wall of thereservoir container 50 by any of several means known in the art andsealed by a gasket, grommet, bushing, o-ring, waterproof sealant,room-temperature-vulcanizing rubber (RTV) such as a silicone glue, orother means known in the art. In one preferred embodiment, the mountingand feed-through connection comprises a male part 75 and a female part76, either of which may have a flange so that when the parts areassembled, the wall of the reservoir container is held between the parts75 and 76, and a gasket, waterproof sealant, or silicone glue seals thejoint between the reservoir container and the feed-through. In onepreferred embodiment, the male part 75 is a Schedule 40 PVC pipe plugthat is drilled with a through hole to accept the heat pipe and sealingmeans, and example of which is a tubular gasket comprising a shortlength of polymer tubing 70 such as vinyl tubing, and the female part 76is one-half of a Schedule 40 PVC pipe coupling, said pipe coupling andpipe plug being either of the slip fit type or threaded type. In onemore-preferred embodiment, the said pipe coupling and pipe plug are ofthe slip fit type. In another preferred embodiment, the male part 75 ofthe feed-through may comprise a threaded tubulation that is screwed intothe wall of the reservoir container 50 and sealed by any of severalmethods known in the art. Such a feed-through connection is onepreferred embodiment for mounting the nipple valve assembly 5 into asupply pipe. In a preferred embodiment, the heat pipe 10 protrudesthrough the feed-through and may be sealed by compression of a gasket,or a cylinder of polymer tubing, for example 70 (as shown in thefigures), or sealant, or an o-ring. In one more-preferred embodiment,the feed-through is a rubber or elastomer grommet 83 made of 50-60Durometer FDA listed material for food or potable water contact such assilicone, Buna-N nitrile, EPDM, or neoprene. To increase the compressionof the grommet, one or more potable water compatible plastic or rubbersleeves 87 may be situated on the heat pipe 10 within the inner diameterhole in the grommet 83. Examples of such a sleeve 87 is a length ofcylindrical PVC or Teflon heat-shrinkable tubing that is heat treated totightly shrink fit onto the heat pipe 10 to form a watertight seal.

The reflective heat shield 110 surrounding the nipple valve 30 andsleeve 20, and forming one surface of the air gap 8 may comprise any ofseveral low emissivity materials such as a foil or metalized film. Inone preferred embodiment, the foil or film is aluminum with anemissivity less than 0.10, i.e, ε≤0.10. In one preferred embodiment, thealuminum foil has a thickness in the range of 0.0005 to 0.003 inches(about 12 to 75 micrometers). In one more-preferred embodiment, thereflective heat shield 110 comprises aluminized polyester, such asaluminized Mylar®, in which the plastic film has a thickness in therange of 0.001 to 0.010 inches (about 25 to 250 micrometers), and themetallization on the plastic film has a thickness in the range of about0.3 to 25 micrometers. In one preferred embodiment, the reflective heatshield 110 is attached to a plastic material neighboring the air gap 8such as the interior wall of the outer bucket, or the insulation 140, orthe outer shield mounting sleeve 80, or it is attached to the outersurface of the sleeve 20. The means of attachment may be any of severalknown in the art. In one preferred embodiment, the attachment is byadhesive, an example of which is a spray applied adhesive such as 3M's777® spray adhesive. In another preferred embodiment wherein the air gap8 surrounds the thermal insulation 140, the reflective heat shield 110,and the sleeve 20, the insulation 140 and reflective heat shield 110 areheld against the sleeve 20 by one or more of the following, a plasticcable tie, a tie wire, adhesive, adhesive tape, heat shrinkable tubing,an elastic band, or any commonly used means of fastening.

The outer shield 84 that provides protection from exterior ambient coldor hot air also provides protection from pecking by birds and fromdamage to the nipple valve device 5 in case the assembly comes incontact with the ground or is bumped into another object. Accordingly,the outer shield 84 and its mounting that may be via a sleeve 80attached to part 75 must be sturdy and easily cleaned. In one preferredembodiment, it is also made of thermal insulating material such asplastic, an example of which is PVC. In one more-preferred embodiment,the outer shield 84 comprises a Schedule 40 PVC pipe cap in which anorifice is made so that the nipple valve 30 can protrude. In one stillmore-preferred embodiment, the Schedule 40 PVC pipe cap is mounted on aPVC pipe adapter that comprises an outer shield mounting sleeve 80 thatis mounted onto the feed-through part 75 and may be optionally attachedby one or more screws. In one preferred embodiment, the exposed lowersurface 32 of the nipple valve is approximately flush with the outersurface of the outer shield 84 at the orifice in the outer shield. In analternate embodiment, the outer shield includes an air gap, air spaceswithin its construction, a low thermally conductive material, and thelike.

An embodiment of an insulated, shielded, nipple valve device 5 with aheat pipe 10, mounting and feed-through connection (75-76) to areservoir container 50 or supply pipe is shown in FIG. 2. A heatconductive clamped sleeve 20 surrounds the body of the nipple valve 30.An air-gap 8 and reflective heat shield 110 surround the nipple valve 30and clamped sleeve 20. An outer shield 84 provides protection fromexterior ambient cold or hot air. Insulating material 140 such aspolyethylene foam insulation within the outer shield surrounds theair-gap.

An embodiment of an insulated, shielded, nipple valve device 5 with aheat pipe 10, mounting and feed-through (75-76) connection to acontainer 50 or supply pipe is shown in FIG. 3. A heat conductiveclamped sleeve 20 surrounds the body 36 of the nipple valve 30. Anair-gap 8 and reflective heat shield 110 surround the nipple valve 30and clamped sleeve 20. An outer shield 84 provides protection fromexterior ambient cold or hot air. An annular insulating washer 128 madeof cork or other insulating material with good durability in a moistenvironment centers the clamped sleeve 20 and nipple valve 30 in theopening, i.e., orifice, of the outer shield 84; it also reducesinfiltration of ambient exterior air into the space between the clampedsleeve and the outer shield. In one preferred embodiment, the saidorifice has a diameter that is at least one-half millimeter larger thanthe outer diameter of the clamped sleeve 20 so that the clamped sleeveand nipple valve are not in good thermal contact with the outer shield84.

One preferred embodiment of an insulated, shielded, nipple valve device5 with a heat pipe 20, mounting and feed-through connection (75-76) to areservoir container 50 or supply pipe is shown in FIG. 4. A heatconductive clamped sleeve 20 surrounds the body 36 of the nipple valve30 and also clamps a heat conductive ring 130 that makes good thermalcontact with the metal annulus with exposed surface 32 at the lower endof the nipple valve seat. In one preferred embodiment, the heatconductive ring is an annulus with an axial slit and outer and innerdiameters selected so that when the said ring is held by the clampedsleeve, the applied pressure is transmitted from clamped sleeve 20 toconductive ring 130 to the metal annulus with exposed surface 32. In onepreferred embodiment, the heat conductive ring 130 is made of any or acombination of the following or their alloys, or other heat conductivematerials known in the art, good conducting metal, aluminum, copper,brass, bronze, silver, stainless steel, a platinum group metal,combinations thereof, or alloys thereof. In one more-preferredembodiment, the material of the heat conductive ring 130 is selected forlow susceptibility to corrosion in a wet or weather-exposed environmentor for low toxicity. An air-gap 8 and reflective heat shield 110surround the nipple valve 30 and clamped sleeve 20. The clamped sleeveis clamped by three wire rings 90, each with ends twisted to apply aforce of approximately 10 pounds or more. An outer shield 84 providesprotection from exterior ambient cold or hot air.

As the heat conducting ring 130 described above may contact only anaxial portion of the metal annulus with exposed surface 32, it isnecessary that the applied clamping pressure in the vicinity of the saidheat conducting ring 130 be sufficient so that the heat resistance thatis the sum of the heat resistance of the contact interface between theclamped sleeve 20 and the heat conducting ring 130, the heat resistanceof the conducting ring, and the heat resistance of the contact interfacebetween the conducting ring 130 and the metal annulus with exposedsurface 32 is sufficiently small so that the temperature differencebetween the metal annulus and the clamped sleeve is acceptably small. Aswith the plastic-metal thermal contact conductance phenomenologydescribed above, the metal-metal thermal contact conductance depends onthe surface parameters and surface finish, as well as the effectivecontact area and elastoplastic properties of the materials. Generally,it is known in the art (see, for example, Yovanovich 2005) that inmetal-metal joints with surface finishes obtained by common machiningand common fabrication methods, and with applied pressure greater thanabout ⅓ MPa (i.e., about 50 psi), that joint thermal resistance of theorder of 10⁻⁴ K-m²/W or less can be obtained. As the apparent contactsurface area for conducting ring 130 may be about 0.1 cm² or greater,then, the bulk resistance of the conducting ring 130 is about 10 K/Wwhen the annular thickness of the conducting ring is about 1.5 mm, and,then, the joint contact resistances are comparable to the bulkresistance of the conducting ring. With greater clamping pressure, thecontact resistance will be less. Thus, when the heat loss at the metalannulus exposed surface 32 is about 0.1 W and the clamping pressure is≥P_(crit), a temperature difference of about one degree or less may beexpected, and the heat conducting ring 130 may significantly aid theheat transfer between the clamped sleeve and the nipple valve metalannulus with exposed surface 32.

An embodiment of an insulated, shielded, nipple valve device 5 with aheat pipe 10, mounting and feed-through connection (parts 75 and 76) toa reservoir container 50 or supply pipe is shown in FIG. 5. A heatconductive clamped sleeve 20 clamped by wire rings with twisted ends 90surrounds the body 36 of the nipple valve 30. In one more-preferredembodiment, the clamped sleeve 20 also clamps a heat conductive ring 130that makes good thermal contact with the metal annulus with exposedsurface 32 at the lower end of the nipple valve seat. In one preferredembodiment, an insulation filled space 140 surrounds the nipple valve 30and clamped sleeve 20. An outer shield 84 attached to mounting sleeve 80provides protection from exterior ambient cold or hot air. In onepreferred embodiment, the insulation has thermal conductivity less than0.07 W/m-K, examples of such are polyethylene foam sheet, cork, otherfoamed plastics, aerogel, Perlite® (expanded volcanic glass), and fiberinsulation materials.

An embodiment of an insulated, shielded, nipple valve device 5 with aheat pipe 10, mounting and feed-through connection (75-76) to areservoir container 50 or supply pipe is shown in FIG. 6. A heatconductive clamped sleeve 20 surrounds the body 36 of the nipple valve30. In one more-preferred embodiment, the clamped sleeve 20 also clampsa heat conductive ring 130 that makes good thermal contact with themetal annulus with exposed surface 32 at the lower end of the nipplevalve seat. An air-gap 8 and reflective heat shield 110 surround thenipple valve 30 and clamped sleeve 20. An outer shield 84 attached tomounting sleeve 80 provides protection from exterior ambient cold or hotair. An annular insulating washer 128 made of cork or other insulatingmaterial with good durability in a moist environment centers the clampedsleeve 20 and nipple valve 30 in the opening, i.e., orifice, of theouter shield 84; it also reduces infiltration of ambient exterior airinto the space between the clamped sleeve and the outer shield. In onepreferred embodiment, the said orifice has a diameter that is at leastone-half millimeter larger than the outer diameter of the clamped sleeve20 so that the clamped sleeve and nipple valve are not in good thermalcontact with the outer shield 84.

An embodiment of an insulated, shielded, nipple valve device 5 with aheat pipe 10, mounting and feed-through connection (75-76) to areservoir container 50 or supply pipe is shown in FIG. 7. A heatconductive clamped sleeve 20 surrounds the body 36 of the nipple valve30. In one more-preferred embodiment, the clamped sleeve 20 also clampsa heat conductive ring 130 that makes good thermal contact with themetal annulus with exposed surface 32 at the lower end of the nipplevalve seat. An air-gap 8 and reflective heat shield 110 surround thenipple valve 30 and clamped sleeve 20. An outer shield 84, attached tomounting sleeve 80, provides protection from exterior ambient cold orhot air. An annular insulating washer 128 made of cork or otherinsulating material with good durability in a moist environment centersthe clamped sleeve 20 and nipple valve 30 in the opening, i.e., orifice,of the outer shield 84; it also reduces infiltration of ambient exteriorair into the space between the clamped sleeve and the outer shield. Inone preferred embodiment, the insulation has thermal conductivity lessthan 0.07 W/m-K, examples of such are polyethylene foam sheet, cork,other foamed plastics, aerogel, Perlite® (expanded volcanic glass), andfiber insulation materials. In one preferred embodiment, the saidorifice has a diameter that is at least one-half millimeter larger thanthe outer diameter of the clamped sleeve 20 so that the clamped sleeveand nipple valve are not in good thermal contact with the outer shield84. Additionally, insulating material 140 such as polyethylene foam orthe examples of such insulation listed above surrounds the reflectiveheat shield 110 and air-gap 8 within the outer shield 84.

An embodiment of an insulated, shielded, nipple valve device 5 with aheat pipe 20, mounting and feed-through connection (75-76) to areservoir container 50 or supply pipe is shown in FIG. 8. A heatconductive clamped sleeve 20 surrounds the body 36 of the nipple valve30. In one more-preferred embodiment, the clamped sleeve 20 also clampsa heat conductive ring 130 that makes good thermal contact with themetal annulus with exposed surface 32 at the lower end of the nipplevalve seat. Insulating material such as polyethylene foam surrounds theclamped-sleeve and nipple valve. A reflective heat shield 110 surroundsthe insulating material 140 or is incorporated into the insulatingmaterial and the heat shield or insulating material with incorporatedheat shield defines the inner surface of an air-gap 8 within an outershield 84, attached to mounting sleeve 80, which provides protectionfrom exterior ambient cold or hot air. In one preferred embodiment, theinsulation has thermal conductivity less than 0.07 W/m-K, examples ofsuch are polyethylene foam sheet, cork, other foamed plastics, aerogel,Perlite® (expanded volcanic glass), and fiber insulation materials.Optionally, the insulating material 140 extends downward to the innersurface of the outer shield 84 to center the clamped sleeve 20 andnipple valve 30 in the opening of the outer shield, and to reduceinfiltration of ambient exterior air into the space between the clampedsleeve and the outer shield. In one preferred embodiment, the saidorifice has a diameter that is at least one-half millimeter larger thanthe outer diameter of the clamped sleeve 20 so that the clamped sleeveand nipple valve are not in good thermal contact with the outer shield84.

An embodiment of a freeze-resistant nipple valve device 5 with a heatpipe 10, clamped sleeve 20, mounting and feed-through connection to acontainer or supply pipe wherein the feed-through comprises a rubber orelastomer grommet 83 is shown in FIG. 9. The heat conductive clampedsleeve surrounds the body of the nipple valve 36 and also clamps a heatconductive ring 130 that makes good thermal contact with the metalannulus with exposed surface 32 at the lower end of the nipple valveseat. Insulating material 140 such as polyethylene foam surrounds theclamped-sleeve and nipple valve. A reflective heat shield 110 surroundsthe insulating material or is incorporated into the insulating materialand the heat shield or insulating material with incorporated heat shielddefines the inner surface of an air-gap 8 within an outer shield 84 thatprovides protection from exterior ambient cold or hot air. The outershield is slipped onto a mounting sleeve 80 that surrounds the heat pipe10. In the embodiment shown in the figure, the mounting sleeve 80surrounds a portion of the insulating material 140. In one preferredembodiment, the outer shield 84 is made from a PVC pipe cap, and themounting sleeve 81 is made from a PVC pipe plug. The mounting sleeve maybe held onto the heat pipe 10 or insulating material 140 by adhesive orglue or one or more fastening devices, e.g., a screw, a spring, a clip,threads, etc. The outer shield may be fixed onto the mounting sleeve bya screw or set screw, which may be made of plastic or metal. Optionally,the insulating material extends downward to the inner surface of theouter shield to center the clamped sleeve and nipple valve in theopening of the outer shield, and to reduce infiltration of ambientexterior air into the space between the clamped sleeve and the outershield. In the embodiment shown, the outer shield and/or mounting sleeveare in contact with the outer surface 200 of the reservoir container 50.Optionally, the spacing between the grommet 83 and the mounting sleeve81 may be minimized or filled with insulation material to reduce heatloss from the heat pipe 10.

An embodiment of a freeze-resistant nipple valve device 5 with a heatpipe 10, clamped sleeve 20, mounting and feed-through connection to acontainer or supply pipe wherein the feed-through comprises a rubber orelastomer grommet 83 is shown in FIG. 10 as a vertical planecross-section view. The heat conductive clamped sleeve 20 surrounds thebody 36 of the nipple valve 30 and also clamps a heat conductive ring130 that makes good thermal contact with the metal annulus with exposedsurface 32 at the lower end of the nipple valve seat. Insulatingmaterial 140 such as polyethylene foam surrounds the clamped-sleeve andnipple valve. A reflective heat shield 110 surrounds the insulatingmaterial or is incorporated into the insulating material and the heatshield or insulating material with incorporated heat shield defines theinner surface of an air-gap 8 within an outer shield 84 that providesprotection from exterior ambient cold or hot air. The outer shield ismounted on an annular part 81 that is affixed to the heat pipe.Optionally, the insulating material extends downward to the innersurface of the outer shield to center the clamped sleeve and nipplevalve in the opening of the outer shield, and to reduce infiltration ofambient exterior air into the space between the clamped sleeve and theouter shield. Also optionally, a thin-walled tubular sleeve 87 surroundsthe heat pipe 10 in the vicinity of the grommet so that additionalradial compression of the grommet 83 results to improve the sealing ofthe grommet. In one preferred embodiment, the tubular sleeve comprisesheat shrinkable tubing made of potable water compatible material,examples of which are PVC and Teflon®, and wherein the tubing is heatshrink fitted onto the heat pipe 10 for a water tight seal.

Also shown in FIG. 10 is an end view of the bottom of thefreeze-resistance nipple device 5 to reveal the relation between theclamped sleeve 20, the conductive metal annulus 130, and the body of thenipple valve 36. In one preferred embodiment, the clamped sleeve has anaxial 22 slot so that the clamping means 90 can compress the sleeve, andthe conductive metal annulus 130 has an axial slot 132 so that it can becompressed by the clamped sleeve 20 onto the annular metal part at theend of the nipple valve 30. In one preferred embodiment, the two slots22 and 132 are oriented so that they are not at the same azimuthalposition relative to the axis of the nipple valve 30.

The embodiment shown in FIG. 10 as a vertical plane cross-section viewis also shown in FIG. 11 with two views of a horizontal cross-section.The cross-section view on the lower left is shown in the same scale asthe vertical plane cross-section view in the upper left. The view to theright is the horizontal plane cross-section view magnified 2×. In thisview, the internal ‘weight’, e.g., a stainless steel sphere, which isfound in some nipple valves is seen. Surrounding this is an annularspace within the stainless steel wall 33 of annular part with exposedface 32 that is within the nipple valve body 36. The clamped sleeve 20surrounds the nipple valve body. A vertical slot 22 in the clampedsleeve 20 is seen. In one preferred embodiment, the width of this slotafter compression of the clamped sleeve 20 by the clamping means, e.g.,one or more wire loops with twisted ends 90 (shown as a dashed hiddenline in the horizontal plane cross-section views), is between 0.005inches and about 0.1 inches. In another preferred embodiment, theclamped sleeve is a continuous thin-walled cylinder with an axiallyoriented boss or folds that allow the clamped sleeve to be compressed tomake a good thermal conductance contact with the nipple valve body.

It is to be understood, that the configuration of the thermal insulationand reflective heat shield(s) in the freeze-resistance nipple device 5may be any of those shown in FIGS. 1-11 or such as may be derivative tothe teachings herein where the feed-through comprises two parts, agrommet, a half-grommet, a compression sleeve, a threaded-joint seal, orother means known in the art. Further, the thermal insulation maycomprise plastic foam, bubble wrap, cork, aerogel, composite containingaerogel, expanded volcanic rock, e.g., the commercial product known as,Perlite™, glass or plastic thin-walled micro-spheres, a vacuuminsulation sleeve comprising one or more reflective heat shields and anannular vacuum space, or other high performance, low thermal conductancematerials. The outer shield 84 may be made of insulating material sothat the insulation 140 and outer shield are the same component. Theouter shield 84 and thermal insulation 140 may be individually ortogether molded onto the sleeve 20. The reflective shield 110 may be aseparate component, or it may be incorporated into the thermalinsulation material, and example of such being a commercial productknown as Reflectix®.

Shown in FIG. 12 is an elevation view of a low heat-loss rate watererwith an integrated, shielded, freeze-resistant nipple valve device 5with a heat pipe, clamped sleeve, mounting and feed-through connection,and outer shield. In this embodiment, the outer enclosure is a plasticbucket 300 with a wire bail handle comprising parts 302 and 304 and alength of chain 306 that provide a means of mounting the waterer byhanging. The reservoir container 50 is a plastic bucket that isremovable and set inside the outer enclosure. Both the outer enclosureand the reservoir container have removable lids 310 and 360. Thermalinsulation comprising one or more annular layers, e.g., 405 and 410 linethe interior surface of the outer enclosure 300 and one or morereflective heat shields, e.g., 415, 432, and 448 line most of thesurfaces of the thermal insulation, e.g., 410, 430, and 444, which areadjacent to spaces between the outer enclosure and the reservoircontainer. One or more layers of thermal insulation 430 cover the bottominterior of the outer enclosure 300. One or more layers of thermalinsulation, e.g., 440, 442, and 440 cover the lid of the reservoircontainer. In one preferred embodiment, at least one layer extends tocover the annular space 216 between the thermal insulation 410 and thewall of the reservoir container 350. Insulating spacers 433 may providesupport between thermal insulation 430 and reservoir container 50 toprovide for a greater vertical thickness of air gap 214. The outerenclosure and reservoir container have orifices so that an electricalimmersion heater, an example of which is an immersible aquarium heater,can be placed inside the reservoir container and its power cord passedthrough orifices, for example but not as a limitation, a notch 472 inlid 310 that may align with a notch in outer enclosure 300 and anorifice with a cap 470, so that connection to an electrical power sourcethat is external to the waterer can be made. Optionally, the lid of thereservoir container 360 may have an orifice with a removable plug 468 sothat the reservoir container may be filled, or the water level ortemperature can be checked without removing the reservoir container fromthe outer enclosure.

Shown in FIG. 13 is a cross-section view of a low heat-loss rate watererwith an integrated, shielded, freeze-resistant nipple valve device witha heat pipe, clamped sleeve, mounting and feed-through connection, andouter shield. In this embodiment, the outer enclosure is a plasticbucket with a wire bail handle and a length of chain that provide ameans of mounting the waterer by hanging. The reservoir container is aplastic bucket that is removable and set inside the outer enclosure.Both the outer enclosure and the reservoir container have removablelids. Insulation and one or more reflective heat shields line most ofthe inner surface of the outer enclosure. One or more layers ofinsulation cover the reservoir container. The outer enclosure andreservoir container have orifices so that an electrical immersionheater, an example of which is an immersible aquarium heater, can beplaced inside the reservoir container and its power cord passed throughorifices so that connection to an electrical power source that isexternal to the waterer can be made. Optionally, the lid of thereservoir container may have an orifice with a removable plug so thatthe reservoir container may be filled, or the water level or temperaturecan be checked without removing the reservoir container from the outerenclosure.

Shown in FIG. 14 is a top plan view of a low heat-loss rate waterer withan integrated, shielded, freeze-resistant nipple valve device with aheat pipe, clamped sleeve, mounting and feed-through connection, andouter shield. In this view, the wire bail handle comprising parts 302and 304 and mounting chain 306 are shown rotated 90 degrees from thevertical. The wire bail is attached to protrusions 301 on the wall ofthe outer enclosure 300. Also shown are the heater power cord orifice364 that has a notch and a cap 470 and the removable plug 468 and itsrespective orifice in the lid of the reservoir container; these orificesbeing shown as ‘hidden’ features denoted by dashed lines.

Shown in FIG. 15 is a bottom plan view of a low heat-loss rate watererwith an integrated, shielded, freeze-resistant nipple valve device 5with a heat pipe, clamped sleeve, mounting and feed-through connection,and outer shield 84. Also shown is a raised annulus 202 that is a commonfeature of commercially available plastic buckets that may serve as theouter enclosure 300. Not shown is the wire bail handle that is also acommon feature of such buckets.

A low heat-loss rate waterer with an integrated insulated, shielded,nipple valve device 5 with a heat pipe, mounting and feed-throughconnection to a reservoir container 50 is shown in FIG. 16. In theembodiment shown, an optional feed-through is provided that is mountedon the lid of the reservoir container and a plugged or capped tubulationthat penetrates an orifice in the lid of the outer enclosure so that thereservoir container may be filled, or the water level or temperaturechecked without removing the lids of the outer enclosure or thereservoir container.

In one preferred embodiment, container 50 is a ‘food-grade’ plasticbucket with thin wall 350 and a removable lid 360. The plastic bucketmay optionally have reinforcements 358 for the attachment of a bailhandle. The reservoir container 50 is removable and mounted inside anouter bucket 300 so that air spaces 214, 216, and 218 are defined below,on the side, and above container 50. In one preferred embodiment, outerbucket 300 is a ‘food-grade’ plastic bucket with a removable lid 310. Inone more-preferred embodiment, the container 50, outer bucket 300, andlids 360 and 310 are made of high density polyethylene (HDPE) and are‘food-grade’

The reservoir container 50 is mounted on low thermal conductancesupports 433. In one preferred embodiment, these supports may comprisean annular ring or pieces thereof or conveniently shaped slabs ofinsulation with thermal conductivity less than about 0.2 W/m-K, examplesof which are plastic foam insulation such as Styrofoam sheet, cork, orfiber materials. In another preferred embodiment, the supports 433 aretwo or more thin walled rigid plastic shapes, an example of which is acylinder of PVC pipe that is attached, for example by a screw, to thebottom wall of outer bucket 300 and may be optionally covered inreflective heat shield film or foil that is attached by adhesive. In onepreferred embodiment, the container 50 rests on the supports 433.Optional low thermal conductance spacers may be situated in the air gapspace 216 to locate reservoir container 50 at a desired radial positionwithin the outer bucket 300 may be attached to either the reservoircontainer or the outer bucket.

The use of insulation material to partially fill the spaces between thereservoir container 50 and the outer bucket 300 in addition to the airgaps 214, 216, and 218 results in smaller heat flux from the reservoircontainer to the exterior of the outer bucket. In one preferredembodiment, one or more layers of insulation material 405, 410 withthermal conductivity less than about 0.07 W/m-K covers most of theinterior side wall of the outer bucket 300. In one more-preferredembodiment, one or more layers of insulation material 440, 442, 444cover the top lid 360 of the reservoir container 50. In one still morepreferred embodiment, a layer of insulation material 430 covers thebottom of the interior of outer bucket 300.

The thicknesses of the insulation layers and the air gap spaces areselected to obtain a sufficiently small heat flux loss from thereservoir container. In one preferred embodiment, the reservoircontainer 50 is a 2 gallon bucket and the outer bucket 300 is a 5 gallonbucket. In another preferred embodiment, the reservoir container 50 is aone gallon bucket and the outer bucket 300 is a 2 gallon bucket. Suchbuckets are available as ‘food grade’ HDPE buckets. In one preferredembodiment, the layers of insulation material inside the side wall ofthe outer bucket comprise a thickness in the range of about 0.75 toabout 1.5 cm. This insulation may comprise one or more layers. In FIG.12, as one preferred embodiment, two layers, each of about 0.5 cmthickness are shown. Suitable insulation materials have been describedabove. In one more-preferred embodiment, the insulation materialcomprises polyethylene foam sheets, each of thickness about 0.5 cm perlayer. In one preferred embodiment, the insulation above the lid 360 ofthe reservoir container comprises a thickness in the range of about 1.0cm to about 2 cm and may comprise one or more layers of insulationmaterial. In one more-preferred embodiment, the insulation materialcomprises polyethylene foam sheets, each of thickness about 0.5 cm perlayer. In one preferred embodiment, at least one layer of insulationmaterial is below the reservoir container 50 within the outer bucket 300and comprises a thickness in the range of about 0.5 cm to about 1.0 cm.The insulation material may be inserted into the outer bucket and notfixed to the outer bucket, or it may be attached by fasteners or lowconductivity material, an example of such being plastic screws, forexample nylon screws, or it may be attached by adhesive. In onepreferred embodiment, the adhesive is a spray adhesive.

In one preferred embodiment, a heat reflective shield is located on oneof the surfaces defining each of the air gap spaces 214, 216, and 218.The reflective heat shield may be located on the surfaces of the air gapspaces that are closest to the reservoir bucket 50 or to the outerbucket 300. In one preferred embodiment, a reflective heat shield 415 isattached to the inner surface of the side wall insulation 410, areflective heat shield 432 is attached to the inner surface of thebottom insulation layer 430, and a reflective heat shield 448 isattached to the outer surface of the top insulation layer 448. In onepreferred embodiment, the foil or film is aluminum with an emissivityless than 0.10, i.e, ε≤0.10. In one preferred embodiment, the aluminumfoil has a thickness in the range of 0.0005 to 0.003 inches (about 12 to75 micrometers). In one more-preferred embodiment, the reflective heatshields 415, 432, and 448 comprise aluminized polyester, such asaluminized Mylar®, in which the plastic film thickness is in the rangeof 0.001 to 0.010 inches (about 25 to 250 micrometers), and themetallization film has a thickness in the range of about 0.3 to 25micrometers.

In another more preferred embodiment, one or more reflective heatshields are incorporated into the thermal insulation. A commercialproduct comprising such is known as Reflectix®. One or more layers ofsuch insulation having incorporated heat shield(s) may comprise thethermal insulation elements 430, 405, 410, 440, 442, 444, and 433 andreflective heat shield elements 432, 415, and 448 within the outerenclosure. Such insulation having incorporated reflective heat shieldsmay also comprise the thermal insulation 140 and heat shield 110 withinthe freeze-resistant nipple device 5.

Optionally, a fill tube assembly 460 may be provided so that thereservoir container 50 can be filled without removal of the lids 360 and310. Such a fill tube assembly comprises a feed-through at the reservoircontainer lid 360, and may comprise two parts, a male part 462 and afemale part 465. In one preferred embodiment, the male part 462 is aSchedule 40 PVC pipe plug that has been drilled to provide a throughhole, and the female part 465 is a Schedule 40 PVC pipe coupling. In onemore-preferred embodiment, the male part 462 and female part 465 are ofthe slip fit type and are cemented together to firmly capture the lid360, and a removable slip type Schedule 40 pipe plug is used to closethe feed-through. Optionally, the feed-through may be sealed to the lidby RTV silicone cement, or by an intervening gasket, or by an elastomergrommet, or any of other common methods known in the art.

To avoid a reduced pressure head in the interior 380 of the reservoircontainer 50 when lid 360 has an air tight seal to the container 50, apressure relief hole in lid 360 or in the side wall 350 of the reservoircontainer is necessary. Such a pressure relief hole may comprise a holein lid 360, which may also be used as a feed-through hole for a powercord for an immersible heater, for example of the aquarium type. Anon-air-tight cap may be used to ‘plug’ the hole to keep contaminationand particulate out of the reservoir container. The pressure relief holemay also comprise one or more holes for attaching spacers to wall 350.Further, if the lid 310 forms an air tight seal to outer bucket 300,then a pressure relief hole in lid 310 or outer bucket 300 is necessary.Such a pressure relief hole may comprise the hole in the bottom of theouter bucket through which the nipple device 5 protrudes, or it maycomprise the hole in the lid 310 through which the fill tube assembly460 protrudes, or it may be another hole in lid 310 through which aheater power cord passes and which may have a non-air-tight ‘plug’ tokeep contamination and particulate out of the outer bucket.

In one preferred embodiment, the reservoir container 50 may haveprotrusions 358 that are found on some plastic buckets for mounting awire bail handle, and a wire bail handle is not used and a cord orstring or similar means is attached to the protrusions to provide ameans of lifting the reservoir container out of and placing thereservoir container into the outer enclosure.

Mounting the waterer may be accomplished by any of several means thatplaces the exposed surface 32 of the nipple valve at a height above theground or floor that is convenient for the bird's actuation and use ofthe nipple valve. Examples of means of mounting include, but not aslimitations, hanging from a hook, a shepherd's crook, a cable, a chain,fence posts, placement on a shelf, on stacked objects, on a bent rodsupport such as commonly used for supporting a potted plant, and byattaching support members or legs to the outer enclosure 300. In onepreferred embodiment, the waterer is suspended by a wire bail handlecomprising 302 and 304, which is attached to outer bucket 300 atprotrusion 301. Such wire handles are common features of HDPE ‘foodgrade’ buckets. Rope, cord, chain, or other means may also be used tosuspend the waterer. In one more-preferred embodiment, the waterer issuspended by a wire bail handle comprising 302 and 304 and a chain 306.In one preferred embodiment, the waterer is mounted on a post that ispartially embedded or driven into the ground or that is attached to astructure. An example of such a post is a metal u-tube fence post thatis commercially available. A mounting support, such as a bolt may beattached to the post so that the waterer can sit on the protruding boltof a support piece attached thereto. A chain, string, cord, rope, or thelike may be used to hold the waterer against the vertical post. Forposts that are not sufficiently stiff to avoid unacceptable torsionmotion, one or more additional posts may be used to provide torsionstability. In one preferred embodiment, the waterer is placed on a shelfor stand that places the exposed surface 32 of the nipple valve at adesired height.

The heat flux from the reservoir container may be estimated by theformalism of Eqns. 1-13. With an initial temperature T_(init), it isexpected that the temperature in the reservoir T_(r) will have a timedependence given by

$\begin{matrix}{{T_{r} = {T_{0} + \frac{P_{h}}{b} + {\lbrack {T_{init} - T_{0} - \frac{P_{h}}{b}} \rbrack\exp\{ \frac{- t}{\tau_{0}} \}}}},} & (17)\end{matrix}$where P_(h) is the power of a heater in the reservoir container,

$b = \frac{{dQ}_{total}}{d( {T_{r} - T_{0}} )}$is the slope of the heat loss as a function of temperature differencebetween the reservoir container interior and the exterior ambienttemperature, and

$\tau_{0} = \frac{\rho\; C_{p}V}{b}$is the characteristic temperature decay time and where ρ is the densityof water, C_(p) is the specific heat of water, and V is the volume ofwater in the reservoir container. The parameter b can be calculated by afit of a linear function to the heat lossQ_(total)=Q_(side)+Q_(top)+Q_(bottom)+Q_(nipple) where each of firstthree of these terms is the result of convective and radiative heattransfer in series with net transfer that is mainly by conductionthrough the insulation layers. The heat loss at the nipple assemblyQ_(nipple), has been described above. In a conservative estimate ofT_(r), the exterior surface of the outer bucket may be treated as beingat the exterior ambient temperature T₀.

Shown in FIG. 17 are the calculated water temperature T (° C.), i.e.,the reservoir temperature (denoted as T_(r) in the above equations), asa function of time, t (hours), for an embodiment comprising a one gallonreservoir container 50 that is enclosed by a 2 gallon outer bucket asthe outer enclosure 300 as in the embodiments of the waterer shown inFIGS. 12-15. Two cases are compared, one with an internal immersionheater in the interior 380 of the reservoir container 50, the otherwithout a heater. In both cases, the initial temperatureT=T_(init)=43.24° C. (110° F.); the water volume is 1 gallon (3.8liters); the exterior ambient temperature is T₀=−17.9° C. (0° F.), andthe wind speed v_(w) is about 8 mph. For the case with an internalimmersion heater, three curves are shown in the figure. The uppermostcorresponds to a heater power of P_(h)=18 W. The second curve from thetop corresponds to P_(h)=15 W; the next lower curve, third curve fromthe top, corresponds to P_(h)=10 W, which may be considered to be at theupper end of the range of low power heaters that is equal to about 10W/gallon of reservoir. In these calculated curves, the heater power isturned on at t=0, and the curves asymptote to a steady state with watertemperature T=23.3° C. (74° F.), 16.4° C. (62° F.), 5.0° C. (41° F.),which correspond to P_(h)=18, 15, and 10 W, respectively. In experimentswith an immersed heater in winter conditions comparable to thecalculations, e.g., daytime high ambient temperature T₀ of about −18° C.(0° F.) and a daily low (early morning) temperature of T₀=−21.7° C. (−7°F.) and wind speed v_(w) of about 23 mph with gusts to 31 mph, the watertemperature asymptotes to about 23° C. (about 74° F.). In this case,because the heater is an aquarium heater and has an internal thermostatthat has a fixed set point of about 25.4° C. (78° F.), the watertemperature is experimentally observed to decay according to theunheated case until the set point temperature is reached, then the watertemperature slowly cools to the asymptotic quasi-steady state of about23° C. (about 74° F.) for which it is presumed that the heating power,P_(h)=16.4 W (which may be considered to be in the range of medium powerheaters), produced by the heater equals the power lost to theenvironment by the waterer. The experimental results are in reasonableagreement with the calculations in light of the approximations of themodel and the non-steady ambient conditions. It appears that thevariance of power loss between model and experiment is <10%.

In the case without an internal immersion heater, the calculatedreservoir water temperature is shown as the lowest curve (dot-dashed) inthe figure, and a curve fit to the experimental data is shown as a curve(dot-dashed) slightly above the bottom curve. Typically, theexperimental curve is within a few degrees of the calculation. It isseen that after a time t of about 9.5-10 hours, the experimentallymeasured water temperature T is between 5° C. (41° F.) and about 11° C.(51° F.); the temperature depending on the wind speed during the coolingtime. The T=11° C. temperature resulted in calm conditions (wind nearly0 mph), an ambient temperature T₀ of about 9° C. (48.5° F.) results withwind speed v_(w) about 9 mph, and the ambient temperature of 5° C.results with wind speed about 23 mph with gusts as great as 31 mph. Inthe latter conditions (windy), the nipple valve 30 is found to freezewhen the reservoir water temperature is less than or equal to about 10°C. In contrast, the nipple is not frozen and provides liquid water whenthe reservoir water temperature is ≥6.5° C. with wind speed about 6-9mph, and water temperature ≥about 5° C. in lighter wind.

Thus, it is found that such a waterer can deliver liquid water via thefreeze-resistant nipple device 5 for a time t_(f) of more than about 10hours after an initial fill with warm (43° C., 110° F.) water inmoderately windy ambient conditions with temperature about −18° C. (0°F.). With the use of a wind shield or placement in a lee wind conditionto reduce the wind exposure of the exposed nipple surface 32, it may bereasonably expected that liquid water can be provided for more than 12hours. In the case wherein an immersion heater is used, provision ofwarm liquid water has been demonstrated in ambient conditions ofT=−21.7° C. (−7° F.) and wind speed of about 23 mph with gusts to 31 mphwith P_(h) of about 16.5 W Calculations show that with P_(h) of about 10W (which corresponds to 10 W/gallon for the one gallon reservoir of thisexample), a sufficient reservoir water temperature (e.g., about 10° C.)is maintained in extreme cold conditions (<−18° C. (0° F.) and low windspeed or in a wind protected situation) so that in spite of thetemperature drop along the heat pipe 10 and clamped sleeve 20 to theexposed surface 32 of the nipple, liquid water is provided by the nipplevalve.

In further tests of the waterer, it is found that without an immersionheater, the waterer can be filled with warm water less than 105 degreesF. and will provide liquid water via the freeze-resistant nipple valveassembly for at least 8 hours when the waterer is used in an ambientoutside temperature of greater than or equal to 0 degrees F. The watererwith an immersion heater of about 15 to 17 Watts (which corresponds to15 to 17 W/gallon for the one gallon reservoir of this example) canmaintain water in the container at a temperature in the range of 50 to80 degrees F., and deliver water at the exposed face of the nipplevalve(s) at a temperature greater than 40 degrees F. when the waterer isused in an ambient outside temperature greater than −10 degrees F. Thewaterer can be filled with cool water in the range of 32 to 40 degreesF. and will provide water with temperature less than 90 degrees F. viathe freeze-resistant nipple valve assembly for at least 8 hours when thewaterer is used in an ambient outside temperature of less than or equalto 110 degrees F.

In another preferred embodiment wherein the reservoir container 50 is a2 gallon bucket and the outer bucket 300 is a 5 gallon bucket, thecalculation predicts in the case where P_(h)=0 (no heater) and ambientconditions at temperature equal to −18° C. (0° F.) and wind ≤about 8mph, that T_(r) decays to 0° C. in about t_(f)=10 hours. In the casewith an immersion heater with P_(h)=25 W, T_(r) is about 12° C. afterabout 24 hours.

Other embodiments may be obtained in light of the teachings herein. Forexample, the heat pipe 10 may be extended so as to comprise the clampedsleeve and to replace the plastic or stainless steel body, in whole orin part, and be clamped onto or press fit onto the annulus with exposedsurface 32 so to conduct heat to the valve seat. In another embodiment,the heat pipe 10 may extend and be clamped or press fit onto a thinpolymer layer on the annulus with exposed surface 32. In still anotherembodiment, the heat pipe 10 may be extended and be integral with theannulus with exposed surface 32.

And, FIG. 18 provides a sectional view on a vertical plane of analternate embodiment of a freeze-resistant nipple valve device with anactuator closed by a ball. The nipple valve 30 has its exposed surface32 slightly below the outer shield 84 as shown. The exposed surface hasa slightly beveled interior, here shown in cross section, the receives aball 34 that serves as an actuator. An animal, bird, or poultry pressesupon the ball and lifts it upwardly so that water or other liquid passesthe ball for the animal, bird, or poultry to drink. When the animal,bird, or poultry leaves the ball, the pressure of water or other liquidwithin the heat pipe 10 presses the ball against the exposed surface,ceasing flow of water or other liquid from the invention.

The preceding description refers to various embodiments. Within thoseembodiments, the Applicants foresee a water-tight seal made from anelastomer grommet, as at 83. The elastomer grommet includes one made ofsilicone rubber or other elastomer approved by the US Food and DrugAdministration for contact with food and water. In a further alternateembodiment, the container as at 50, or outer bucket as at 300, has a lidas at 310, 360, proximate its handle, that is, generally opposite aninstalled nipple valve device, 30. The lid in this embodiment has anopening or tubular protrusion through which a user may fill thecontainer. In a further alternate embodiment, the invention has itscontainer, or outer bucket, constructed of high density polyethylene,HDPE, approved by the US Food and Drug Administration as a material safefor food contact and all water contact surfaces of the invention have aconstruction of materials suitable for potable water.

From the aforementioned description, a freeze-resistant watering nippledevice has been described. The freeze-resistant watering nipple deviceis uniquely capable of providing water, or other liquid, at atemperature below ambient temperature in a hot environment and ofproviding water, or other liquid, a temperature above freezing in a coldenvironment while the water, or other liquid, has a temperaturetolerable to the drinking birds, poultry, or animals. Thefreeze-resistant watering nipple device and its various components maybe manufactured from many materials, including but not limited to, thosepreviously listed, polymers, copper, aluminum, stainless steel, ferrousand non-ferrous metals, their alloys, and composites.

Various aspects of the illustrative embodiments have been describedusing terms commonly employed by those skilled in the art to convey thesubstance of their work to others skilled in the art. However, it willbe apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention maybe practiced with only some of the described aspects. For purposes ofexplanation, specific numbers, materials and configurations have beenset forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of theillustrative embodiments. However, it will be apparent to one skilled inthe art that the present invention may be practiced without the specificdetails. In other instances, well known features are omitted orsimplified in order not to obscure the illustrative embodiments.

Various operations have been described as multiple discrete operations,in a manner that is most helpful in understanding the present invention,however, the order of description should not be construed as to implythat these operations are necessarily order dependent. In particular,these operations need not be performed in the order of presentation.Moreover, in the specification and the following claims, the terms“first,” “second,” “third” and the like—when they appear—are used merelyas labels, and are not intended to impose numerical requirements ontheir objects.

The above description is intended to be illustrative, and notrestrictive. For example, the above-described examples (or one or moreaspects thereof) may be used in combination with each other. Otherembodiments can be used, such as by one of ordinary skill in the artupon reviewing the above description. The Abstract is provided to allowthe reader to ascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. Also, inthe above Detailed Description, various features may be grouped togetherto streamline the disclosure. This should not be interpreted asintending that an unclaimed disclosed feature is essential to any claim.Rather, inventive subject matter may lie in less than all features of aparticular disclosed embodiment. Thus, the following claims are herebyincorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claim standing onits own as a separate embodiment. The scope of the invention should bedetermined with reference to the appended claims, along with the fullscope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.

As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception,upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basisfor the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carryingout the several purposes of the present invention. Therefore, the claimsinclude such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart fromthe spirit and the scope of the present invention.

We claim:
 1. A nipple valve device for providing drinking water orliquid to animals, birds, or poultry, said device comprising: a heatpipe in contact with the water or liquid in a container or supply pipe;a water-tight connection to the container or supply pipe by which theheat pipe protrudes from the container or supply pipe; a nipple valvehaving a body, an actuator, and an exit surface; a clamped sleeve intight thermal contact with said nipple valve; an outer shield enclosingsaid sleeve and said nipple valve therein; and, wherein said heat pipeis in thermal contact with said sleeve that is in thermal contact withthe body of said nipple valve, and said actuator and said exit surfaceexpose through said outer shield for use by the animals, birds, orpoultry.
 2. The nipple valve device of claim 1 further comprising: saidsleeve integrating with said heat pipe.
 3. The nipple valve device ofclaim 1 further comprising: said nipple valve joining to one of saidheat pipe by a water-tight connection or said sleeve by a water-tightconnection wherein said sleeve joins to said heat pipe by a water-tightconnection or wherein said sleeve integrates with said heat pipe.
 4. Anipple valve device for providing drinking water or liquid to animals,birds, or poultry, said device comprising: a heat pipe in contact withthe water or liquid in a container or supply pipe; a water-tightconnection to the container or supply pipe by which the heat pipeprotrudes from the container or supply pipe; a nipple valve having abody, an actuator, and an exit surface; a sleeve in tight thermalcontact with said nipple valve; an outer shield enclosing said sleeveand said nipple valve therein; wherein said heat pipe is in thermalcontact with said sleeve that is in thermal contact with the body ofsaid nipple valve, and said actuator and, said exit surface exposethrough said outer shield for use by the animals, birds, or poultry; athermally conductive metal annular ring connecting said sleeve to saidnipple valve proximate said exposed face and said actuator; and saidthermally conductive metal annular ring being made of aluminum, copper,brass, bronze, silver, stainless steel, platinum group metal,combinations thereof, or alloys thereof.
 5. The nipple valve device ofclaim 1 wherein said clamped sleeve is made of copper, brass, aluminum,silver, annealed copper, or alloys thereof.
 6. The nipple valve deviceof claim 1 wherein said heat pipe is made of copper, brass, aluminum,silver, or alloys thereof.
 7. The nipple valve device of claim 6 whereinsaid heat pipe has either a coating or a plating thereon so that saidheat pipe resists corrosion and release of metal ions into the water inthe container or supply pipe.
 8. The nipple valve device of claim 7wherein said heat pipe is an aluminum tube that has an anodized coating.9. The nipple valve device of claim 1 further comprising: one or morewire hoops holding said clamped sleeve.
 10. The nipple valve device ofclaim 9 further comprising: said one or more wire hoops being made ofstainless steel, each of said wire hoops having a loop of wire with twoends mutually twisted wherein each of said wire hoops contract inwardlycausing pressure promoting efficient thermal contact between said sleeveand said nipple valve.
 11. A nipple valve device for providing drinkingwater or liquid to animals, birds, or poultry, said device comprising: aheat pipe in contact with the water or liquid in a container or supplypipe; a water-tight connection to the container or supply pipe by whichthe heat pipe protrudes from the container or supply pipe; a nipplevalve having a body, an actuator, and an exit surface; a sleeve in tightthermal contact with said nipple valve; an outer shield enclosing saidsleeve and said nipple valve therein; wherein said heat pipe is inthermal contact with said sleeve that is in thermal contact with thebody of said nipple valve, and said actuator and said exit surfaceexpose through said outer shield for use by the animals, birds, orpoultry; and, insulation surrounding said sleeve and said nipple valve,said insulation locating within said outer shield.
 12. The nipple valvedevice of claim 11 further comprising: said insulation having at leastone of a metal reflective foil, metalized film, a coating, or an air gapto reduce radiative transport of heat.
 13. A waterer for providingdrinking water or liquid to animals, birds, and poultry, said waterercomprising: an insulated container; at least one freeze-resistant nipplevalve device, said nipple valve device comprising: a heat pipe incontact with the water or liquid in the container, said heat pipe havinga water-tight connection to said container or to a supply pipe, saidheat pipe protruding from the container; a nipple valve having a body,an actuator, and an exit surface; a sleeve in tight thermal contact withsaid nipple valve; an outer shield; said heat pipe having thermalcontact with said sleeve in thermal contact with said body of saidnipple valve; said outer shield enclosing said sleeve and said nipplevalve; wherein said actuator and said exit surface of said nipple exposethrough said outer shield for use by the animals, birds, and poultry;and, said insulated container having an inner bucket and an outerbucket, insulation surrounding the inner bucket, and at least oneremovable lid.
 14. The waterer of claim 13 wherein said inner bucket andsaid nipple valve device separate from said outer bucket.
 15. Thewaterer of claim 13 wherein said water tight connection of said heatpipe and said insulated container is an elastomer grommet.
 16. Thewaterer of claim 13 further comprising: said insulated container havinginsulation at least one of polymer foam, bubble sheet, metal reflectivefoil, metalized film, or coating to reduce radiative transport of heat.17. The waterer of claim 13 wherein said waterer can be filled with warmwater of a temperature of 105 degrees F. or less and will provide liquidwater for at least 8 hours when said waterer is within an environment ofa temperature of at least 0 degrees F. and wherein said waterer can befilled with cool water of a temperature in the range of 32 to 40 degreesF. and will provide water with temperature less than 90 degrees F. forat least 8 hours when said waterer is within an environment of atemperature at or below 110 degrees F.
 18. The waterer of claim 13further comprising: an immersion heater of about 15 to about 17 wattsper gallon of volume of said inner bucket, said immersion heatermaintaining water within said container at a temperature in a range of50 to 80 degrees F., and said waterer delivering water at a temperaturegreater than 40 degrees F. when said waterer is within an environment ofa temperature of more than −10 degrees F.